till the sun rises
by makeyourlifehappy
Summary: In a time where the demon lords managed to come back and declare war to the chosen ones a long forgotten ghost wants to come back to life in using one of the digidestined. Who is he and what does he want? How do you know whom to trust? Before you realize it the darkness consumes you and you can't be sure if the sun will ever rise again. Sequel of "When the sun sets"
1. Chapter 1

_Yes. I am back. I am really nervous about sharing this one with you because I really had trouble beginning this story. I wanted to start writing so bad, but either I didn't have any time because of school, or I just couldn't get myself to start planning the story. Anyway I'm not sure if I even will plan the later chapters. I'm probably just going to write what comes to my mind without planning anything. There is a vague idea of this story in my mind and I can assure you I will continue and eventually finish this story if there are a few of you who actually are reading this because... well you readers are the only feedback I get and without you telling me what you like or not I won't be able to improve the story. So anyway I will upload this story if there will be some readers who actually are reading the stuff I'm writing. So enough of that... I missed writing fanfics so here it is._

 _Anyway this is the sequel to "when the sun sets" make sure you read the story first before reading this one._

 _As usual, English isn't my first language so please excuse the mistakes._

* * *

' _ **til the sun rises again**_

 **Silence**

Silence. No one really appreciates the true beauty of innocent silence. If you close your eyes and enjoy the moment of hearing absolutely nothing but your own heartbeat –the rhythmical pumping that never stops- you'll finally be able to notice all the little things all around you. The wind blowing through your hair, the ground under your feet... you'll even notice every little pebble under your shoes and last but not least the unmistakable smell of blood mixing itself with the scent of burned landscapes and rain. This is the moment in which you notice that although you just enjoyed the silence a minute ago... This silence is your own personal hell; you just have to open your eyes.

Open your eyes and you'll see fire burning down everything you knew, the sky being covered by heavy, endless grey clouds. Open your eyes and you'll the bodies of your friends, your enemies and your partners lying lifeless on the ground. They stopped bleeding a while ago... maybe minutes, or even hours. Or even days for god's sake. Who knows how long you're already standing here, waiting. Waiting for someone to finally kill you so you can rejoin your team, the team that means so much to you... your family. But there isn't anyone left who could do this favor. And no one will come, because no one's left but you. You're all alone. Her hand feels cold in yours. She lost a lot of weight during the few weeks she spent here in this damned world, maybe it was the lack of sleep, or the lack of food... or the lack of, what? Life? Probably. She didn't live; no one of them really did live in the past few weeks. They all were waiting, waiting for death, but no one really knew that. In the end, sitting here and reliving all the events of the last few weeks, it is ridiculous really. Who in the world did they think they were? Soldiers? Officers? For fuck's sake. No, they were normal students, teenagers who deserved to live at least 60more years. They weren't meant to lead a war. They weren't meant to train everyday until every bone in their body was aching for them to stop. This wasn't what they were destined for. Although they were digidestined, it wasn't their destiny to give up their life in this world.

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time. While we can manage to cope with one of them, there never will be enough of the other. In war, you win or lose, live or die - and the difference is just an eyelash.  
And before you know it you'll be lying on the open field, where the enemy will wait for your downfall. And you'll be thinking... thinking about how hard you've tried. You tried, day in, day out. But you failed. You failed so miserably.

"Babe?"

My vision blurs, her hand is gone and replaced by something cold, hard, oblong. The grey clouds suddenly vanish and are replaced by... a carpet. A black carpet that covers the whole floor. I gaze down on my hand and notice the car keys I was clutching all along. I immediately lose my grip on them, seeing the dark rose marks they left on my right hand. I lift my gaze, looking around my room at my penthouse. _What the fuck happened? What was that just a minute ago?_

"You okay?" The voice that snapped me out of my daze sounds again and I turn my head to her. She's leaning against the doorframe, buttoning the two left buttons on her white shirt while staring at me. The shirt slipped up and reveals her beautiful tanned belly. Instead of waiting for an answer she bends down, picks up her bag and extends her hand in a gesture for me to take her hand and leave the bedroom for breakfast. The smell coffee is filling my nostrils; that's the moment I finally let go of the last dark image my mind was holding on and stand up from the bed I was sitting on. I take her hand and let her lead me out of the room, down to the kitchen.

The sun shines through the windows on the east side of the room, engulfing the whole living area with a warm golden color. Although the summer is over, the sun shines on a daily basis, causing the people to forget about the upcoming autumn. Reaching the kitchen island I feel her loosening her grip on my hand and a few seconds later, letting go of me. Although somewhere in my mind I know that this is usual for someone who wants to pour herself a coffee I kind of feel like someone just boxed me in the stomach. Not really liking this feeling of sickness I follow her and lean against her tiny frame waiting for her to pour coffee in a second mug.

"Here", her angelic voice sounds again and a moment later I feel the steaming cup in my hand, followed by a soft kiss against my left temple,

The typical strong bitter taste of coffee calms me down immediately, causing all the disturbing emotions I've got from this morning to go away and finally sense the company of the third person in this room. My sister leans against the other side of the kitchen island chatting with my girlfriend.

"What's with him?" She says, nodding in my direction. I decide to ignore them while staring out of the window. The sun shines in between the few skyscrapers, blinding me in a comforting way. Usually I'd put on sunglasses or turn away but seeing that I kind of feel mentally traumatized by the images I've dreamt of –I subconsciously decided that it was a dream, although I wasn't even sleeping anymore – I like the feeling of the warm light on my skin.

"I don't know, he's been like that since I was getting ready. He didn't even try to get me back into bed", my girl answers her, looking at me with concern all over her eyes.

"I'm fine. Just tired", I say while massaging my temples. _God living with two women is starting to get to me._

"Oh God. He's talking", Sora says while grinning at me with a content expression on her face. I can't help but grin back although the smell of ash fills my nostrils once again. I take one last sip of my coffee before shouldering my bag and taking the car keys from the kitchen table. _Get a fucking grip man..._

"You ready girls?"

Kari and Sora nod in unison. While Sora already puts on her leather jacket my sister quickly cleans up the kitchen island and follows me and my girl into the elevator.

"You sure that you can drop me off?" Kari asks, like every morning. I don't even bother to answer her; I'm fed up with this discussion. I've told her about a million times that, yes I can drop her off before going to university and no it doesn't bother me to make a detour.

"God you know how to get on your brothers nerves huh?" Sora says while typing some response to Mimi who already texted her, asking her if she'd like to go on lunch with her _. Yes I read the message, but hey it isn't my fault that she places her phone right in front of me. It isn't like I asked her to do it._

Kari however doesn't respond anymore, instead she just eyes me with an unreadable expression on her face. I hold her gaze as long as I can until she subtly shakes her head – signalizing me that there's still going to be a talk about my weird behavior this morning. I know she worries about me, seeing that our life hasn't really been peaceful a few months ago I absolutely get why she's acting that way. But there hasn't been a serious situation for a while now so...

* * *

 **Sora's Prov**

Just as I press the send button on my new smartphone the doors of the elevator open and reveal the parking garage. Tai leads us past a few cars to the farthest corner of the garage to his new black BMW. I'm really proud of him; he managed to save so much money to actually buy a car by himself. Not to mention a freaking great car. I don't know how long Tai was saving money for this beauty of a car but seeing that it's one of the newest models – I don't really know the name since I'm not into cars – I can assure everyone; it was a whole lot of money. And Tai's in love with this car, that's the thing that makes me really happy. His eyes start to sparkle as soon as he takes his seat behind the steering wheel.

I take my seat next to him and reach for his hand, a habit I took up a while ago. I like the warm fuzzy feeling I get whenever I touch him. He's like...a flame that won't ever go out, no matter how cold and dark it will get. Weird I know, but there isn't really anything else I can describe how I feel about him right now. He's everything I want and I can't stop looking at him. The way his left hand is lazily holding the steering wheel, his gaze that follows every movement on the street and his right thumb softly making circles on my skin.

"Tai you up for lunch today?" Kari asks from the backseat. I turn to study Tai's expression and frown immediately. His gaze seems cloudier than just a few minutes ago and he's clutching the steering wheel what causes his knuckles to turn white. A few awkward minutes pass until I decide to squeeze his hand a little tighter to snap him out of some daze he's into again. Fortunately it works because he takes a deep breath before answering his sister.

"Yeah sure I'll pick you up", he answers, loosening his grip on the steering wheel again and stopping the car in front of Kari's school.

"Thanks for the lift you two. See you later brother", she says while exiting the car. "I'll see you at home Sora", she adds bending down to give me a bright smile that I return immediately before Tai starts the car again. He gives his sister a peck on her cheek before pulling out into traffic again.

"You're so quiet", I say after a few minutes of absolute silence. Usually Tai would be the first one who'd turn on the radio on its maximum just because he makes fun of everyone who does that on the street, although he's one of them.

"Just enjoying the silence Love", he answers turning to me and squeezing my hand lightly.

"Well what about less enjoying silence and more enjoying talking with your girlfriend instead?" I say letting go of his hand to give my words extra weight. He obviously gets the message because instead of taking his hand back to his side he lazily places it on my left thigh. I inwardly thank the weather gods that it got colder again so I could put on jeans. Otherwise he'd be able to see the goosebumps that appeared right after feeling his hand on my skin.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude", he says a small smile appearing on his handsome face. God I love this man.

"So... any explanation for this morning?" I ask, going straight to the point because... I never really was someone who beats around the bush. He immediately tenses up and starts clutching the steering wheel again.

"Is it that bad?" I ask quietly.

I wasn't really aware of the fact that he wasn't alright, but seeing him reacting like this does kind of worry me. I have to say, Tai never was one for zooning out and this morning was a first. After getting out of the shower together he went straight into the room and got dressed. Until that moment, everything was normal. We showered, made out and I stayed in the bathroom for my morning routine, while he was doing his own routine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then as soon as I came back into the room, asking him about the whereabouts of my bag I didn't get a response. Instead I saw my boyfriend, sitting on the edge of our bed, staring down and clutching the car keys. I didn't really think much about that so I got dressed by myself since he seemed to be ready. Not till I was almost fully dressed and standing in front of him I've decided to call out. Fortunately he immediately snapped out of whatever daze he was in and slowly got back to normal. I know a few would say I should have asked him what was wrong right after this little incident, but I know my boyfriend quite well. If he wants you to know something he'd tell you, and if he's not telling you he either wants to keep it for himself or he's just not ready.

"I fell asleep Sor and when you called out my name I woke up again. So you can imagine I was quite confused when I woke up a second time", he brushes the topic off. I know he's lying, but if he doesn't want to tell me yet, I respect that.

"Alright. I love you", I say, feeling the sudden urge to tell him that. His usual lopsided grin appears on his face and he turns to me once again.

"I know"

* * *

 **Mimi's Prov**

The students slowly walk in and take their seats, waiting for the first lecture of the semester to start. Luckily Matt, Tai, Sora and I took similar courses this semester so I'm not going to be apart from them most of the time like last semester. Sure I'm here for my own education and I should chose the courses based on my interests, but I still want to spend time with my best friends. I scan the room for one of them until blond hair catches my sight. Matt, my on-off lover. We spent a lot of time in the past few months together and grew really close, and when I say close I mean close like... yes there were a few times I ended up spending the night in his bed. But since it doesn't harm our friendship I'm okay with that, and it isn't like we don't have any feelings for one another. We're just not ready to make things official between us. And that's good for the moment. I'm okay with the fact that we're spending time together and as soon as he's not going after other girls I'm not going to complain about the unofficial state of our "relationship".

"Hey Mimi", he greets me. I can't help but grin as soon as I catch his ocean blue eyes, god he's so handsome.

"Hi Matt", I greet him back turning my head to the side so he can give me his usual peck on my cheek. He takes the seat next to me and places a coffee cup in front of me.

"Defatted, without milk and a pinch of sugar", he says with a grin plastered on his face.

"You didn't have to –"I start but he waves me off. "I bought ones for Tai and Sora too so don't feel too special princess." He says earning a playful punch on his arm.

I know I don't really seem like the girl who punches a guy or something like that. That's something Sora does on a daily basis with Tai, but seeing that this is Matt –my Matt – it is kind of normal.

"Where are they anyway?" I ask, changing the subject after checking my watch. _They're running late..._

"There", Matt says what causes me to follow his gaze. And he's right, there they are. The probably cutest couple I've ever seen. I don't say that because they are my best friends but because it's the truth. Sora for her part changed again, a lot. She visited the hairdresser a lot and finally decided to change her look completely –much to Tai's displeasure because he has a problem with letting go of old things, but he likes it anyway. However, Sora decided to let her hair grow past her chest and dyed it again. Her dark red locks are in perfect contrast with her white button down shirt and her black pants. Added to that she wears a casual black leather jacket; she looks gorgeous.

Tai for his part didn't really change much; he's still the handsome guy everyone wants to be friends with. He's simply dressed in dark washed jeans and a black button down shirt, holding his jacket in his left and Sora's hand in his right. They approach us and take their seats. Sora sits down on my left and Tai on Matt's right side.

"What took you so long?" I whisper to my best friend who seems kind of stressed. Although I saw her just yesterday I can't ignore the joyous feeling I feel right now. After all I kind of did miss her.

"Tai was acting weird", she says after taking a sip of her coffee and leaning back in her seat.

"Define weird"

Sora however just shrugs obviously not really being able to answer my question. Either that or she isn't really in the mood to talk too much about her boyfriend. That's something I probably like most about Sora. She isn't like every other girl who can't stop talking about her boyfriend, telling everyone how awesome and cute he is. And Tai for his part isn't someone like that either. If they wouldn't kiss in public or holding hands one could easily think they don't even like each other. It's funny really, but they didn't really change much although they're in a very serious relationship. I mean, Sora even lives with him. _How much more serious can that even get?_

I'm just about to try and get this conversation started when the voice of the prof drives all attention to him. The man doesn't even look like a prof. While most of the professors on campus walk around dressed in ridiculous expensive looking suits he's wearing casual jeans, a white button down shirt and a black blazer. His hair is black and he looks like he didn't shave for three days in a row. I have to say, he's hot.

"Good morning students. Seeing that I've got your attention now I think I can start my lecture for today. Anyway before we start I just want to tell you the basic information for this course. I'm not going to do much tests and stuff since this isn't my style. There will be one test on the end of the term; the rest of your grade will develop from a journal you're going to write. For example I give you a subject and you're going to write about it. After all world religions isn't a normal subject so it shouldn't be treated like one, right?" he says, smiling at every one of us.

"Does this guy think just because he's the one lecturing this subject it makes it special?" I hear Tai whispering to Matt, causing the blonde guy to bite his lip in an attempt not laugh. The prof's gaze however catches Tai's for a split second before Tai averts his gaze again. The prof however eyes him a while longer before turning around and writing his name on the board. Mr. Hawkins

"Anyway the topic I'm going to talk about you today is Silence", he says, taking a seat on his desk. I can't help but frown. _What a weird topic to start the term._ After taking a look at the expressions of the other students I can tell they're sharing my thoughts on this. _Well, here goes nothing_. I follow the example of my best friend and lean back in my seat, waiting for the prof to say something.

"Let's start with something rather easy, define silence", Mr. Hawkins says, looking for someone who might have an answer for him. After a few awkward, long seconds in which nobody seems to raise their hand the Prof tries again. "Come on don't be shy."

I don't really get how he does that but suddenly a few hands rise. Mr. Hawkins smiles and gestures for a girl in the first row to speak up.

"I'd say when there is absolutely no noise at all but I don't really see the meaning in your question", she says seeming kind of confused. Well I can relate to that, I'm confused too. _Why the hell does he ask such a weird question?_

I turn to look at Sora just to see that my best friend actually fell asleep. _Looks like someone got laid yesterday._ Seeing that it won't be a good idea to wake her up right now I turn to check on Matt who seems to be deep in thought, hovering over a piece of paper. Suddenly curious I lean closer to him and take a look at the paper. Looks like he's working on a new song. _God how boring... I wonder what Tai's doing_. I lean over my desk to take a look at Tai. Much to my surprise he's leaning back in his chair –a posture almost everyone has in this room – but the only thing that distinguishes him from the rest is his expression. He's actually listening to what the prof is saying. _Wow, I didn't think I'd see the day where Taichi Kamiya is actually paying attention._

"I know it is a weird question since everyone seems to know what silence means right?" Mr. Hawkins speaks up again what causes me to follow Tai's lead and actually pay attention. _I mean if Tai's listening I guess it can't be that boring, right?_

"The real question is, have you ever really experienced silence before?" he asks again.

This time a few minutes pass and no one seems to have an answer for that. Just when Mr. Hawkins seems to take the lead in this monosonic discussion again someone gives him an answer.

"No"

I don't really have to look around to know that Tai just gave this answer. Since Sora woke up as soon as his voice sounded and Matt turned to his right I have enough prove that it was him.

Mr. Hawkins smiles lightly, directing his gaze at Tai. "What makes you say that Mr...?"

"Kamiya Sir", Tai answers his question before taking a few seconds to prepare his answer.

Matt, Sora and I for our part eye our leader with sudden interest. Well I eye him with interest; Sora looks like she doesn't really know what we're talking about. Understandable since she was sleeping the whole time. Matt for his part eyes his best friend with a frown. Seeing that Tai never, ever speaks up in lectures – at least that's what the others told me about last semester – I don't wonder about their reactions.

"Well?" Mr. Hawkins says, still waiting for Tai's answer.

"There is and always will be something that will disturb the silence. If it isn't some noise of your surroundings then it's the voice in your head... I don't know. I don't really see a moment where you'll be in absolute silence", Tai says in a low voice, but since the room is dead silent the prof easily hears him.

"You said disturb. Why did you choose this world in particular? Are you saying that silence is something enjoyable?" Mr. Hawkins says before turning to everyone in the room "This question is meant for everyone in here."

This time however Matt's the one responding.

"It depends on what was before."

"Before what?" A guy in front of us asks, turning around to eye Matt. The prof however takes his seat on his desk and leans back with a content smile on his face.

"Before the silence", Tai answers for Matt obviously following Matt's thoughts. I for my part turn and look at Sora, looking for an answer for this weird lecture. Much to my relief she looks as clueless as me.

"You mean like there was much noise before?" Another girl joins the discussion. Tai and Matt however just nod.

"So it means that you appreciate silence after there was much noise, Name an example", Mr. Hawkins joins the discussion again, looking straight at Tai. Tai however tenses up again and doesn't really look like he's going to answer that.

"Aren't you going to answer?" Matt whispers quietly to his best friend. Tai for his part just stares at the silver band around his left ring finger, the same on which Matt wears on his right.

"The only possible answer for that would be a battle. What do you want me to say? ´After I fought in a battle against bad digimons I really appreciate the silence because the explosions nearly blast my drumhead'?" Tai hisses.

"Touché."

Unfortunately for Tai however Mr. Hawkins heard him. "War", he says after getting up from his seat again and eyeing everyone in the room.

"After the horrible sounds of weapons piercing through people's bodies and the screams of warriors who experience their downfall on the battle field silence is the only thing you'll be longing for. It will be your own personal heaven." He says, his gaze not averting from Tai.

 _What is this man's problem? Why is he staring at Tai like that?_

"Or your hell", Tai says. The sound of the bell snaps everyone out of their daze they were in. I didn't even notice the tension that built itself while discussing this weird topic; neither did I notice that the time flew by so fast. The students don't even bother to wait for the prof to say his goodbyes to them. They grab their bags and exit the room. We follow Tai's lead down the stairs to the exit. Right before we exit the room I hear a voice calling out Tai's name what causes the boy to stop in his tracks and turn around. Mr. Hawkins approaches us with a small smile on his face.

"Will", he says extending his hand to Tai. Tai for his part looks dumbfounded for a second before snapping out of it and taking his hand: „Taichi."

"Well Taichi I hope I didn't offend you today", he says smiling apologetic. "I'd like to know more why you said the complete opposite than me. Your train of thought is fascinating. The same goes for you too", he says, looking at Matt after he added the last part. Matt just smiles lightly. His smile however doesn't reach his eyes – not a good sign.

"Thank you sir. Anyway we've gotta go now. Come on Tai", Matt says while grabbing Tai's arm and pulling him out of the room. Sora and I however don't hesitate and follow the guys.

"God this guy was weird", I exclaim as soon as we're out of earshot.

"You can say that again", Sora says taking the last sip of her coffee and throwing it in one of the trash cans. "But Tai seemed to like him huh babe?"

"He's different from other lecturers", is the only thing he says before pulling out his buzzing phone out of his pocket.

"That's what I said", I respond causing Matt to chuckle next to me. I throw him a questioning look.

"Just because he's different doesn't mean that this is a bad thing, right?"

I decide to just ignore what he just said since I really don't feel like discussing a weird new lecturer with Matt right now. The rest of the forenoon wasn't really eventful. Tai slept through most of the lectures, Matt continued working on his song and Sora actually started to chat with me after the third coffee she drank. Without me even noticing it the time flew by and it was lunchtime. Matt for his part excuses himself because he's got band practice. Tai however goes to pick up his sister since he promised her to spend lunch with her since his girlfriend is busy with her best friend –me.

"You know Sora. I really appreciate it that you still spend so much time with me although you've got a boyfriend now", I say after receiving my order. We decided to eat in a small cute Greek restaurant since we both like Greek food.

She smiles lightly after taking a sip from her water. "What did you expect me to do? Abandon you and spend every free time I've got with Tai?"

"A lot of girls do that", I say before I take a bite from my plate.

"Tai's one of your friends too Mimi. And I already spend a lot of time with him without being in a relationship. We've been best friends, remember?"

"I'm glad you mention it. Since you said it right now by yourself that Tai's my friend too you can spill the beans now and tell me what's up with him. You said something about him being weird in the morning. He actually paid attention and spoke up in a lecture, I mean... wow. There's something wrong with him", I say trying to make a rather serious topic sound funny.

Sora however gets what I'm trying to say because she lies down her cutlery, takes another sip of her water and leans back in her chair, her expression changing from amused to concern in just a few seconds. "He zooned out in the morning... I mean like. Really zooned out. He didn't even hear me when I tried to ask him something. He was staring down on the carpet and when I asked him about what it was he just brushed it off like it was nothing, lying and saying he fell asleep again. I mean, come on... I'm no idiot", she says before exhaling rather loudly, showing just how frustrated she is.

"As your best friend I'd say you're overreacting. If it happens again you can start to pile on the pressure on him so he tells you what's wrong. But you kind of really do seem to overreact right now", I say slowly and as gentle as possible so she doesn't get the intention that I'm trying to offend her right now. She sighs quietly.

"You're right... I'm acting quite ridiculous huh?" she says smiling lightly while staring down at her plate. I for my part just nod as a response.

"Thank you Mimi"

"That's what I'm here for", I say before leaning over the table and giving her a peck on her cheek.

* * *

 **Kari's Prov**

"Don't dare to even look at your purse Kari. I'm your older brother I'm definitely not going to let you pay for lunch", Tai says before taking his seat in front of me. I knew he'd act like that, but what can I say? I just don't feel comfortable when others pay for me, even if it's my brother who pays for... everything actually.

After the waiter takes our orders I immediately take the chance and lean closer to my brother, causing him to lazily hold my gaze. I know that he's expecting me to start the conversation since I wanted to meet him for lunch to ask for an explanation. _So here goes nothing..._

"Are you better?" I ask, not really sure how to start this kind of conversation. The last time something was wrong with my brother he ended up being in a kind of coma for a few days. I feel the cold shiver making its way down my spine just by thinking about these events a few months ago. _God I'm so glad he's still alive..._

"I am", he says, snapping me out of my thoughts. Just when I'm about to continue with another question the waiter brings our food and places it in front of us. Tai gives him a quick nod what causes him to leave us alone again. Much to my surprise Tai starts to tell me by himself.

"Well seeing that you're the only person that I can be sure won't say a word to anyone", he starts looking straight in my eyes. I nod quickly since he's waiting for any reaction of my side to continue. "When I was waiting for Sora this morning to get ready I kind of... God I don't know. **Saw** something?"

He starts, frowning at the thought. I can't help but shift in my seat. "What do you mean _saw?_ Like a dream or something?"

"It felt too real to be a dream", he says slowly, not meeting my gaze.

"What did you see?

"The digital world... and it wasn't in a good shape", he says, finally starting to eat what causes me to do the same. I didn't even notice it until now but I'm starving.

"And what are you going to do now?" I ask after taking a sip of my water. Tai for his part smiles lightly.

"I already told Izzy to ask Gennai about it if you're going to suggest that."

I can't help but laugh at that. _He knows me too well._

We spend the rest of our lunchbreak chatting about casual things that just come by, for example the weird hair of one of the waitress and laughing about one of the customers who bumped in the waiter what caused him to drop the plates he was carrying. All in all nothing out of the ordinary, but after all... I can't really shake the bad feeling I've got after Tai told me that he had a weird vision about the digital world being in trouble. I mean, we would've known by now if there would be something weird going on, after all we go out scouting almost every evening since the events a few months ago. And the fact that my older brother has visions now isn't really calming either.

Tai drops me off at my school again and drives back to the campus since he has a few lectures more to go before going home.

I slowly walk through the hallways of my school to my locker to get all the stuff I need for the few hours to go.

I manage to barely make it on time and take my seat right before the teacher enters the classroom by himself and starts the lesson. T.K greets me with a warm smile before taking up his earlier occupation; drawing some stuff on a loose paper he found in his notebook. Davis for his part is giving his best not to fall asleep. I can't help but stare a while at him, although I used to have feelings for my blond best friend I can't deny the fact that Davis does attract me in a way I didn't know was possible. Obviously sensing that he's being watched he turns his gaze to meet mine, grinning sheepishly.

"Like what you see?"

I don't bother to answer that since I kind of feel embarrassed that he caught me staring at him. Trying to change the subject I say the first thing that comes to my mind.

"Are you going to scout tonight?"

"Yes me and Ken are going tonight", he replies calmly. I'm not really sure if I should tell him about what Tai saw, but remembering that Tai asked me not to tell anyone yet I stay shut and just nod.

"Be careful, okay?"

Davis eyes me with a weird expression on his face before giving me a reassuring smile:" Always."

* * *

 **Ken's Prov**

The sun is setting already. I can't help but already start to miss the long, warm summer days. Davis sits next to me trying not to fall asleep.

"It isn't even past ten and you're already sleepy Davis?" Veemon asks him in a mocking tone.

"What can I do? School starts too early in the morning" he says, trying his best not to sound too sleepy. He fails however.

"Don't worry, it seems rather quiet tonight so I don't think that we have to stay too long", I say while looking around the landscape. The river flows quietly next to us. We've been walking around the area Tai told us for almost two hours now, looking for something unusual without finding anything.

"Why do you think Tai send us to this area?" Davis asks me after a while. He switches on his flashlight what causes me to do the same. I have to admit that I feel kind of nervous to walk through a rather scary forest when there's absolutely nothing but the light of our flashlights. The funnel-shaped light beam makes everything even eerier.

"No idea, probably because no one was scouting here already", I respond while still looking around our surroundings looking for anything that looks out of place.

"Well I don't see here anything, what about we just –"Davis starts but gets interrupted by some strange voices.

Wormmon and Veemon immediately get ready to digivolve but Davis is faster and gestures them to do nothing but stay shut. He throws me a similar gaze and switches off his flashlight, signalizing me to do the same. The darkness immediately engulfs us as soon as the light beam is gone. As quietly as possible we make our way through the forest, approaching the voices. Just in the moment when I'm about to take another step further to the voices I feel Davis grip my arm and pulling me down to cover behind a bush. The sight however is kind of unsettling. There in front of us is a dark figure with its back turned to us, talking too low for us to understand to hundreds of digimon. Although we can't hear him these digimon obviously do because they seem to react to what the figure is saying.

"Is it just me or do these digimon don't look like digimon at all?" Davis asks me in a whisper.

He's right. Although there is no doubt that these are digimon, I have to admit that I never saw something like them. Their skin is dark grey and there where their eyes should have been are nothing but black holes. They're holding things that look like massive weapons but unfortunately it's too dark to identify anything. If there weren't the animalistic bodies of them I'd say they are human. _God I have a bad feeling about this._

"Davis I think we should head back and tell the others what we saw", I say as quietly as possible. My best friend takes one last glance at the scene in front of us before nodding and pulling me back to the television we came from.

 _Well... at least I know now that Tai didn't send us here because he was in the mood to do so._

* * *

 **Tai's Prov**

Words can't describe how glad I am that this day is over finally. After spending most of the night with Matt I finally enter my penthouse. The lights are all switched off what illustrates how late it is actually. I quietly make my way up my bedroom before opening the door as quietly as possible. The lamp on the bedside table is still on and next to it on the bed lays Sora, sleeping peacefully. Without much of hesitation I strip down to my boxers and lay down beside her, pulling her close to my chest and inhaling her scent _. God I missed her._

Sensing my presence she turns around and snuggles close to me.

"I love you Sor," I say quietly, feeling the sudden urge to tell her that. She smiles lazily without opening her eyes.

"I know"

* * *

 **So this was the first chapter. Maybe you already can guess where I'm going with this story. Anyway please tell me what you think about this story so far because as I said before. I don't see why I should upload a story when there's no one who really wants to read it.**

 **Hope to hear anything from you. I for my part am definitely going to write this story down, but I'm not sure about uploading. After all it feels great to be back. See you !**


	2. Reliving the past

_**Seeing that there are at least a few of you who do have an interest in my stuff I'd decided to upload this chapter as well. I'm still not really sure where I'll be going with this story but I will find a solution, so everyone who's worried that I might let this story being unfinished I can assure you, I won't, unless there aren't any readers who want it to be continued.**_

 _ **Jup, this one was pretty fast...don't get used to that pace though. I'm usually quite busy with school work.**_

 _ **Anyway, as usual, English is like... my fourth or fifth language so please excuse the few mistakes.**_

* * *

 **Reliving the past**

The ground beneath my feet starts shaking. I know it is a matter of time until they're going to strike back. After all that is what usually happens when you manage to kill more than half of their eastern army. Well... what can I say; I know how to lead an army. It's like I know what they're going to do before they know it by themselves. That's one of many advantages to have such a sly mind. You're actually able to think like your enemy.

I barely can remember the time when it was the other way around. I couldn't think straight for a long, way too long time. I have to thank him someday for changing me to the person I've become today.

 _... Or maybe I should kill him for making me to a monster._

Because in the end. I'm nothing else than just that. A monster that didn't back away from a war that he definitely couldn't win. **We** couldn't win this. But I pushed them; I pushed and pushed because I couldn't get enough of this feeling; the incredible sensation of having so much power. And being this kind-hearted, loyal team they were, they stuck with me till the end. I knew we would die eventually, but seeing their lifeless bodies on the ground did affect me in a way I didn't think was possible. I didn't want to feel the grief. I can remember the first two days; I was lying next to them, still on the open field, begging God to either kill me or to take this sick feeling of guilt and loneliness away. After 48hours of holding onto her lifeless body, the body I knew so well, the pain finally left me and was replaced by a new, uncommon feeling. Anger. I wanted revenge. And I will get my revenge.

So here I am, standing on the once so beautiful landscape of server's west. Where once bloomed thousands of flowers –she loved them so much – is nothing left but ash. The trees are nothing but a shadow of their once former glory. The sun set a while ago and with them being still alive, I don't expect her to rise... ever again.

My gaze is directed straight forward. Although I already can sense their presence I'm still not able to see them. The thick fog that never cleared up for the past few weeks seems thicker than ever, making it almost impossible for me to recognize anyone here. After blinking a few times I finally manage to see some silhouettes appearing a few meters in front of me. Seven silhouettes that cause my blood to freeze and my heartbeat to quicken. _I didn't expect them to come... fuck._ I thought they'd send their army of godless shadows to put me over the edge. My first impulse is to get the fuck out of here as fast as possible, but when I really think about it; where am I supposed to go anyway? I lost everything that was worth fighting for, so there are two possibilities now. First one; I'll get out of here and drown myself into the river. Two: I'll wait for them to approach me and do this overdue task of ending my life. Just in the moment I've decided for the first one I realize that I lost every sense of my body. Yeah, the human body is quite extraordinary; obviously when you're scared to death your brain isn't able to move any single muscle in your body anymore. _Great._

"You were waiting for us", one of them says. I can't bring myself to lift my gaze up from the ground. My sight caught a dried rose. The probably last rose on the whole continent of server. _Strong little rose..._

"Just kill me already", I whisper. _God, I already forgot about the sound of my voice._

"Oh no boy... I've got a much better idea than to just end your miserably life here and now", another voice sounds and just a split second later I feel a cold, bony hand under my chin, lifting my head so I'm forced to look him straight into his merciless eyes. No... I was a fool to think that he'd give me the death I was longing for so long.

"The power of darkness will suit you."

 _What did he just say?_

"No...No please. NO –"

My eyes dart open and I come face to face with the pure white ceiling in my room. I sit up as carefully as I can so I don't wake up the sleeping beauty next to me. My heart beats faster than I ever thought was possible and there's just no way in hell that I can go back to sleep again.

 _A dream. It was just a dream._

Although I know deep down that this was more than just a simple nightmare I refuse to think too much about that again. Turning my head to check the clock I curse quietly under my breath. 3.48am and I'm not being able to go back to sleep?

Okay. Looks like I'm going for a run.

I quietly leave the bed and take my favorite black sweats and a white tank top out of the closet. I quickly write a note for Sora and lay it down on my pillow so she doesn't worry too much about my whereabouts. Taking my mobile phone as well as my D-Terminal and my digivice –you'll never know as a digidestined if you'll need these things – I exit my bedroom and cross the living area, heading straight to the elevator.

I know what most of you think right now. Who with a right mind goes for a run at like four in the morning? Yeah... me. Most people probably would have tried to go back to sleep, but since I'm sure that this dream would haunt me for the rest of the night I'd rather just avoid going back to sleep and do something that will definitely clear my mind.

The cold night wind blows through my hair and feels like thousand tiny needles on my bare arms. I know it's probably one of the stupidest things to go for a run in the middle of the night and not even bother to put on a jacket. But to be honest, after dreaming shit like that and sweating the whole night, this coldness is exactly the right thing I need right now.

* * *

I don't know how much time passed but since my legs don't seem like they're going to carry me one more meter and my chest is already aching I decide to stop and lean against a street lamp. Since I didn't bother to look up during my run I finally have time to take in my surroundings, feeling kinda surprised that I ended up being at the beach. The sky is already starting to change its color, getting redder and redder by the minute. It's just a matter of time until the sun will rise now. The sudden buzzing of my mobile phone forces me to avert my gaze from the sunrise and check the message I just received.

 _ **Davis; 07/29/15, 6:35am: Did you get my message on your D-Terminal?**_

Frowning lightly I pull out my D-Terminal, checking my messages. Davis sent me the message at around 1am... what means that I just fell asleep when the message was sent. I quickly skim trough the text and feel my blood running cold within seconds. Without much hesitation I put the items back in my pocket and make my way to the nearest digiport.

 _ **digital world.**_

Yeah, the second idiotic decision I made today; coming to the digital world without knowing anything about the whereabouts of my partner. I'm not sure if the digimons Davis told me about in his message are still here around but well... I have to find it out right?

Looking at my digital map Izzy installed on my D-Terminal I walk through a rather thick forest to the place Davis sent me the coordinates of. The sunrays shine through the forest, engulfing the whole area in soft autumnal atmosphere. The temperature however doesn't really seem to get any higher...actually; it's cold. I cross my arms in an attempt to keep me warm and continue my way through the forest, looking for anything that seems unusual. After a while of walking around without finding anything I decide to focus on the map I'm holding in my hand.

My gaze is focused on the blinking point that marks my destination what causes me to not notice the change of my surroundings. However it isn't until I reach the point and lift my gaze that I see that I actually left the forest and am standing on a wide landscape. There's absolutely nothing but grass and a few bushes around here. I bend down and start to scan the ground for anything out of the ordinary and I have to say... Davis was right. For people who wouldn't know any better the ground would have seemed quite normal. But being a digidestined for a while now has taught me to examine everything as exact as possible. Little by little the details get clearer and I see the footsteps these digimon from last night left here. Just when I'm about to follow their steps I hear someone calling out my name what causes me to strop right in my tracks and turn around.

"What are you doing here young boy?" Gennai greets me, approaching me ever so slowly.

"Davis told me something about a horde of creepy looking digimon listening to some figure in the middle of the night", I answer without much of hesitation. After all, this is Gennai standing in front of me; it isn't like he probably doesn't know that yet.

My suspicion is confirmed when he slowly nods his head gazing in the distance. "I heard about that yes... Ken sent me a similar message."

"Do you know what that was about?" I ask, inwardly hoping that no, he doesn't know anything. Or even better, that yes he knows what it is about and that it doesn't mean anything bad for us. Unfortunately he looks like he's about to crush my tiny hope under the inevitable truth.

"It means something bad Tai. Something really bad. I don't even want to start imagining what is going to happen in this world", he says, his voice trembling lightly.

Although I fought dozen of battles here in the digital world Gennai never really seemed like losing his grip or something. He was one of these guys who manage to appear quite collected no matter what happens. But right now I have to say that –if I didn't know him I wouldn't have noticed, but I do know him so... – he looks troubled.

"What do you mean?" I ask, feeling quite troubled by myself right now.

"They declared war Tai", he says in a barely hearable whisper. But I don't ask him to repeat what he just said. I was able to hear him the first time.

Words can't describe this sickening cold feeling you get when you hear something like that. It doesn't matter who declared war, and it doesn't matter how many of them there are. Not yet anyway. The only thing that matters is that whoever they are, they did something I feared most for a long time now. Although I fought battles here before –as I said earlier – none of these battles did really prepare me –or the others for that matter –for situations like this. With these four words Gennai managed to turn my whole world upside down. The realization that we have to come back and –I don't even dare to imagine this – fight against giant armies of digimon is something I've never ever thought could happen.

"Tai?" Gennai's voice snaps me out of my daze and I finally realize that he actually laid his hand on my shoulder, holding me much stronger than I usually would need to be hold. But since I feel rather light headed right now I appreciate his help. I take a deep breath before pinching my bridge of the nose in an attempt to calm my nerves _. God what a damned morning..._

"I'm fine. I just didn't expect you to say something like that. That's all", I answer shaking his hand off of my shoulder.

"So... what do we do now?" I ask the first thing that comes to my mind.

I hear him exhale rather loudly before answering:" I'm already building up an army. There is a base I built a few years ago in case something like that would happen... I just hoped I wouldn't have to use it. Anyway Tai I want you to know that no one of you digidestined is obliged to help. I don't want –"he starts, but I can't shut my mouth because he's making me angry just by suggesting something like that.

"You don't think that we're going to leave something like that to you all alone do you?" I ask, crossing my arms and eyeing him with a frown.

"I was hoping to keep you safe this time", he says seeming rather sad all of the sudden.

I can relate to that, I'm aiming to keep the others safe too. I'm definitely going to suggest to them to just stay at home and enjoy the safety. But knowing them they'd rather die than to let their friends alone in a situation like this.

"We will be... I'll keep them safe", I say, meaning every word I've just said. I will never, ever let them down.

"I know. Izzy said something about you having some kind of visions?"

Gennai just changed the subject in a rather unpleasant way, but since I know that sooner or later I'll have to tell him I decide to just spill the beans and tell him everything. Starting with the scene I saw yesterday and ending with the one of this morning, though I'm not sure if it wasn't just a dream...

He stays silent until I finish my little story and I notice the change of his expression from neutral to rather...surprised? No, not surprised... he looks, shocked. Yeah that's the right word to describe his expression.

"Do you remember the face of one of these silhouettes?" he asks me, his voice trembling worse than before and his skin getting paler with every second that passes. As I response I just shake my head.

Thank god I didn't see the face of this thing; I wouldn't have been able to shake that image off for sure.

"Tai I want you and the rest of the digidestined –at least, the ones who are willing to fight – to come to my house tomorrow at evening. Until then I have to ask you to leave the digital world since it isn't safe at all to walk aimlessly around here. Especially for you", Gennai says, before stepping to the side and directing me to the digiport I've come from. Not really being content with his reaction to my weird visions I stare at him a while before bringing the topic up again.

"You know something about these visions don't you?" I ask him, feeling rather uneasy right now. Added to that it gets colder any minute and I'm not sure if it's because the temperature is really sinking or if it's just me.

Gennai's gaze is directed in fare distance. "I do."

"It sounds like you're reliving memories of someone I once knew", he continues after receiving no reaction from me.

"Who?"

"Tai I was hoping you'll never, ever would have to meet him. But unfortunately it seems to be inevitable now. But now I want you to go", he says firmly this time.

Not really feeling like arguing with him there I nod and make my way back to the digiport. After checking the time on my digivice I don't even bother to try to make it on time. I've already missed two of my lectures anyway... so there's no reason to hurry.

* * *

 **Sora's Prov**

"Did Tai text you back?" Mimi asks me for about the tenth time in just two hours period of time.

"No", I answer, not really bothering to make it sound like I'm not annoyed with her because, I'm beyond annoyed.

But I mustn't forget that Mimi's not the main cause for my bad mood today. Not only did my boyfriend leave in the middle of the night but he also didn't bother to appear to his lectures today. I know I shouldn't be surprised since I didn't really expect him to come anyway but... well looks like I did hope he'd come. And the fact that he didn't even text me back does annoy me beyond all limits. So here I am, sitting in my last class for today –world religions – and stare at my phone, impatiently waiting for said boyfriend to text me back.

"God I'm going to hang him from the highest b –"

"Sorry I thought it would be easier to just show up than to waste time and write you back", Tai's voice interrupts me right in my sentence. Matt and Mimi immediately look up from their conversation and turn to look at Tai who just took the seat right on my left side.

Although I should be angry at him I can't help but feel rather relieved that he looks unharmed, though he is kind of pale.

"Where were you?" I hiss, since Mr. Hawkins already started his lecture. Today's subject; conviction.

"I went for a run and paid Gennai a visit afterwards, nothing out of the ordinary Sor. I know I should've probably told you so but I was in a hurry and... kind of forgot", he says, waving the topic off like it's nothing. I decide to ignore the enormous wave of annoyance that tries to overwhelm me and just lean back, trying to pay attention to that creepy lecturer.

"Okay students. Since I already started to talk a little about that topic last time I'd like to make a connection between conviction and war today. How do you think these two things are connected?" He asks, once again, eyeing the whole room at once.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me", I hear Tai curse under his breath but decide to ignore it...

The students however look around, looking for someone who has the answer, or in that matter, feels content enough with his answer to share it with everyone in here. Much to my surprise Matt is the one who speaks up today.

"You fight for something you're sure is the right thing", he says frowning lightly. _He probably thinks about a fight in the digital world..._

"So why do you have an enemy when you're fighting for the right thing?" Mr. Hawkins asks back. Tai's gaze is focused on Matt's expression. Said blonde however just shots Tai a glance what causes him to lean back in his chair and answer the question instead of Matt.

"Because they don't share your opinion", he says in a rather unusually raspy voice.

"We're getting where I want to be. So this means that conviction depends on persons opinions?" Mr. Hawkins asks back, eyeing Tai and Matt this time. The boys share a glance before Matt answers again.

"Actually it depends on who tells you what. And who you trust", Matt says driving everyone's stares at him.

"If someone you trust tells you that you're doing the right thing it's just a matter of time until you're fully convinced and believe in your actions, although they seem wrong in others eyes", Tai adds earning a quite ridiculous reaction of Mimi. She stares at him with an open mouth and I really have to pull myself together to not burst out in laughter because my best friend looks so shocked right now.

 _Yeah Mimi my boyfriend's quite smart... though he doesn't show that quite often._

"So you're saying you would kill someone if... for example your mentor whom you trust, tells you it's the right thing to do?" Mr. Hawkins asks, looking straight at Tai with an unreadable expression on his face. I turn to look at Tai who looks even paler than before and his breathing has quickened. He runs his fingers through his hair before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before answering.

"No. Of course not", he says, though I can't help but think that he just lied...

Mr. Hawkins for his part just nods lightly.

"Anyway class here's the first assignment. I want you to write about conviction. What does this word mean to you; write everything down that comes to your mind. I'll expect you to hand in your notebooks in the next lecture. The rest of today's lecture you can use to either start the assignment or just leave", he says, taking his seat on his desk and opening his laptop; dismissing us.

Before I even can say something Tai gets up next to me and exits the room without looking back. I turn to look at Matt and Mimi, hoping they just got what happened here a second ago. Mimi for her part looks as clueless as me at the door where Tai just stormed out. Matt for his part wears a worried expression –something I rarely see on him.

"Did he mention anything about him not feeling well?" he asks me, his ocean blue eyes filled with worry for his best friend. I just shake my head 'no'.

"Maybe he just has a bad day... anyway Sora, you still want to go on dinner with me or do you want to go home and check on Tai?" Mimi asks, reminding me of our plans for tonight. I planned on going to grab dinner with her and Kari.

"I don't let you or Kari down. Let's go pick her up and then head to downtown", I say before getting up too and kissing Matt goodbye on his cheek.

Before I start to enjoy my time with my friends however I make sure to let Tai know that neither I nor Kari will be home tonight. I kind of feel bad for him... I hate to spend time apart from him, something I manage to cover for most of the day. But I can't stand being without him...

* * *

 **Tai's Prov**

This day was shit. And I mean. Shit. There are many people who think they had a bad day and say their day was shit. But I think I can be quite sure about the fact that no one around here has had such a day like me for a long time. First getting up at about 4am in the morning because of a vision I can't shake off, then hearing that some bad guy declared war against us and then discussing this topic in one of my lectures?

 _God, are you messing with me? Like, seriously?! If so, you can stop now, thanks._

The doors of the elevator open and reveal the short corridor that separates me from the living area. I cross the small hallway and enter my penthouse. Since Sora wrote me a message, saying that she went out with Kari and Mimi I don't bother to cook something. I'm not hungry anyway. Instead I do something I didn't think I'd do like... ever. I open our mini bar and let my gaze wander over the different liquors we bought a while ago. There isn't really anything that appeals to me. I'm just about to close the door of the mini bar again when an unfamiliar etiquette falls into view. I pull the bottle that contains an amber colored liquid out of the bar and pour myself a drink. I'm not really someone who grabs the bottle when I have to face a few rather great problems... but I just feel like having a drink tonight.

* * *

 **Sora's prov**

It's funny how one innocent message can ruin the good time you've been having the whole evening. Kari, Mimi and I actually managed to have a really good time while having dinner in one of the restaurants in downtown. We were enjoying ourselves until our D-Terminals beeped at once, revealing a message from Gennai, saying that we were supposed to meet him tomorrow. Something about having to talk to all of us. Although the message didn't really seem too serious or something I can't shake off the uneasy feeling I've got about this whole situation. First of all Tai behaving weird –again – and then Gennai calling every one of us back to the digital world after... what? Six months?

Anyway, after receiving the message we decided to call it a night and return home. Kari however promised Yolei to spend the night at her house. So after I dropped off Mimi I drive to Yolei's house.

The car ride is spent in absolute silence, what causes me to think back to the lecture of yesterday. ' _There actually never is a moment you experience absolute silence'._ When I really think about that, I have to say; Tai's right. Although none of them is saying anything now –a situation who would be described as silent by many people – there still are the noises of the traffic, the sound of Kari typing a message...and of course, there's the all too familiar voice in my head that just won't get away like... Ever.

"Yolei's apartment building is just here around the corner", Kari's voice interrupts my train of thoughts. I follow her navigation and stop in front of the said building.

"Thanks for the ride Sora. I'll see you tomorrow", she says before climbing out of the car and disappearing into the building. I quickly check my phone for any messages before I start the car again and drive home.

 _Weird...Tai didn't text me once tonight. Usually he doesn't stop..._

I can't help but feel rather uneasy the whole drive back home. After entering the elevator and typing in the code that leads to the penthouse I lean against the wall and close my eyes, allowing myself to relax for just a split second. The ping of the elevator snaps me out of my state, signalizing that I reached my floor. I step out of the elevator, my gaze focused on my phone that shows a message from Mimi, asking me if I got home safely. Totally focused on typing a response I don't see what's in front of me what causes me to end up falling and landing on the floor a second later.

"What the fuck?" I curse under my breath, taking a moment to look around our living area.

There are several books scattered around the carpet in the living room its bookshelf fell down and lays alongside them. My gaze wanders over to the kitchen, that's when I notice the broken pieces of glass on the floor. Taking one last glance behind me I finally see the item I tripped over; a chair. My heartbeat immediately quickens and I can't help but think about the only logical explanation that comes straight to my mind. _Someone was here. Someone was here and something happened to Tai._ I immediately get up from my spot of the ground and start looking around frantically, not daring to walk around though.

"Tai?" I call out, looking up to our bedroom door, hoping that he'll get out any minute.

"TAI!"

"For fuck's sake Sora, stop shouting like a maniac I'm here."

I immediately turn to the direction his voice came from and cross the living area, approaching the couch he's lying on. The first thing that catches my gaze however is the bottle of bourbon lying next to him on the floor.

 _Oh god. This is not good_.

Tai slowly stands up from the couch –taking his precious bottle with him and crosses the few meters that separate us, stopping right in front of me. I'm not used to situations like this, but I know that Tai's usually not the one who gets himself drunk. Although he used to go out partying with Matt he never was someone who got hammered, he never was. So I don't have any clue what I'm supposed to do right now. He places his right hand on my cheek, looking me straight into my eyes. I usually love when he does that; I love the moments he gives me access to his eyes –something he rarely does with anyone. His gaze however just mirrors how out of it he really is right now. I can't help feel scared... kind of. That's the reason I back off as soon as he tries to drive me into a kiss. Unfortunately he's not the kind of drunk that causes people to not realize what's happening around them, so he's perfectly aware of the fact of me backing off right now. His eyes narrow and he lets go of me, smiling lightly. His smile however doesn't match the one he usually uses... no, this one doesn't reach his eyes, what is a rather bad sign.

Tai lifts his left hand, pointing at me with the bottle. "You're scared of me huh?"

Since I'm still trying to cope with this situation and trying to understand what's happening here right now I'm not able to answer him, at all. I just continue to stare at his perfect face, though the bloodshot eyes kind of ruin the sight.

"I'll give you a reason to be scared." Is the only thing I hear before a shattering sound causes me to jerk and turn to the wall where Tai threw the bottle against.

"Babe I think you should go to bed. Come on", I try to reach for him but he shakes me off.

"Don't tell me what to do. Who are you, my mother?" he slurs, pressing his hand against his temple and closing his eyes. I can tell he already feels the full impact of the alcohol.

Instead of being pissed at him for his behavior I kind of feel the urge to just hold him and be there for him because whatever it was that led him to drink, it surely isn't over yet.

"Tai I –" I start again but the sound of the chair that I tripped over earlier getting thrown at the nearest wall and breaking causes me to shut up and back away until my back hits the kitchen island. _God I never saw him acting like that, ever..._

Tai however doesn't really bother to even throw me another glance; instead he just continues to demolish the furniture. Since I don't really see a way to get out of this situation I call the only person I'm sure knows how to handle a drunken Tai.

"Sora?" Matt's puzzled tone doesn't surprise me the least. I mean... it's like, half past 11 at night.

"Tai lost his mind", is the only thing I'm capable to get out since my gaze is still fixed on my boyfriend's action who's already looking for a new bottle. Unfortunately he found another one.

I quickly hang up and badly hope that Matt got the message to come to us as fast as possible because I honestly don't know what to do. I lean against the kitchen island and observe Tai who passed me and takes two glasses out of the cupboard. He pours the amber colored liquid in both of two glasses and slides the one to me.

"Never drink alone", he says before he raises his glass to me, waiting for me to do the same. I quickly grab the glass and touch his before placing it down. There's no way in hell I'm going to drink that.

Tai for his part empties his glass in one go and pours himself a new one right after. I can't believe my eyes. My stomach turns just by inhaling the scent.

"Why did you drink tonight?" I ask quietly, still looking at him. He just stares down at his glass but much to my surprise he answers me.

"I'm still drinking."

"That's not what I meant."

"I like Bourbon", he says raising his glass again to his lips but before he can take a sip someone takes it from him and throws it against the wall Tai threw his bottle at earlier.

"You never drank bourbon before, saying you can't stand the smell, let alone the taste", Matt says in a rather angry voice.

"You know how to fucking piss me off huh?" Tai answers not less angry. "You ruined my wall", he adds pointing at stain at the wall.

"I never saw you this drunk before bro..." Matt says quietly. "Come on I'll bring you to bed."

Tai however doesn't even bother to listen because he's already looking for another glass in the cupboard, causing Matt to get angrier again.

"Tai don't make me lose my patience!"

This tone obviously seems to affect him in a way because he hangs his head, closing the cupboard again. Matt tries again to lay a hand on his shoulder. Seeing that Tai's not refusing the touch he starts pulling him out of the kitchen. I don't really know how to help, but seeing that Matt obviously knows how to handle the situation I start to clean up the kitchen while keeping an eye on them.

Matt manages to pull Tai to the stairs but even I see that he's in no condition to get up by himself.

* * *

 **Matt's Prov**

"Come on Bro I'll carry you okay?" I whisper quietly in my best friends' ear since he's hung in my arms. I already saw Tai drunk before countless of times I mean... after all he is a light weight. He doesn't respond however so I take that as a yes and somehow manage to get him on my back. His head lays on my shoulder and I make my way up the stairs, entering Tai and Sora's bedroom. Instead of staying in here I cross the room and open the bathroom door. After switching on the light I turn on the shower. No way is he going to bed smelling like a bourbon store. As soon as I let go of my best friend however he sinks down to the ground, leaning his back against the cold tiles.

"I don't need a shower", he mumbles, his eyes closing already. _Yep, the alcohol did its job good..._

I kneel down to his level and force him to look me in the eyes:" You know by own experience that it is a stupid idea to go to bed, smelling like that. You'll regret it in the morning."

"Okay fine... but I don't need you help", he says although he seems to lose his balance already though he's sitting on the floor.

Since it isn't really the first time I do that I ignore his protest and get him out of his clothes. Just in the moment when I'm about to strip him down completely he stops me right in my tracks and gestures for me to go out.

"I'll manage that, I'm no cripple", he says standing up again and getting into the shower by himself.

"Get out!"

I sigh quietly and exit the bathroom, anxious to let the door open a little so I hear if he trips or something. Light footsteps snap me out of my thoughts and cause me to lift my gaze. Sora just entered the room and drapes her jacket over one of the chairs in the room. She leans against the dresser and stares at me with an unreadable expression.

"Thank you"

I smile lightly:" He's my best friend."

I'm just about to say something when I hear the shower being turned off. I quickly grab some clothes for Tai and enter the bathroom again, giving him the few items I grabbed; some gym shorts and a casual shirt. He gets dressed quickly before leaning against the tiles again, his forehead touching the cold wall. I immediately get worried again and approach him, placing my left hand on his back.

"Are you going to be sick?" I ask him the first thing that comes to my mind.

"That's a disgusting thing to do. So, no, definitely not", he answers taking deep breaths.

"It wouldn't be the first time though", I return earning a small chuckle from him.

He finally straightens his posture and looks at me, still leaning at the wall though. "Why did you come?"

"Sora didn't know how to handle you in that state so she called me", I answer truthfully. He for his part just nods, frowning lightly.

"I'm too drunk to apologize right now", he says and the fact that he actually started to slur confirms his statement.

"I'm losing my mind Matt", he says, staring straight ahead at his reflection in the mirror.

"What do you mean?"

"They're going to kill us. Every one of us." He says his eyes wide all of the sudden.

 _Okay, I've got enough of this theater._

"Alright bro, you go to bed. Now." I lift him up and throw him over my shoulder entering the bedroom again and closing the bathroom door behind me.

"You have to believe me Matt I saw everything. I see them, everywhere!"

"Stop that okay? You sound like a schizo." A second later however I feel him going limp what signalizes me that he fell asleep. _Thank God._

Sora isn't in the room so I assume that she went downstairs again, cleaning up the chaos Tai managed to wreak.

As soon as I lay him down however he seems fast asleep already.

 _You never were much of a drinker anyways..._

Seeing that my task is fulfilled here I make my way downstairs again, starting to help Sora clean up this mess while not being able to shake off the uneasy feeling I've got after Tai's last words tonight. The fact that Gennai send us a message, saying that we have to meet him tomorrow actually did already a good job in troubling me, and now my best friend says things like 'they're going to kill us' claiming that he actually 'saw everything' isn't really calming. At all.

* * *

 **None's prov. digital world**

The elevator makes its way down the many floors until reaching its aim at the last floor in this underground base. The floor is long and seems endless though it doesn't even take a minute to cross it. Before I can open the door the sensor scans my eyes, as well as my handprint before opening and revealing the command center. The room is round and there are several monitors on the sides. One giant monitor covers a part of the rounded walls. In the middle is a round table with 15 chairs on it. Twelve of them are supposed to be for the digidestined, which is what the symbols of the crests are for on the back of the chairs.

"I was waiting for you Gennai", a calm voice sounds, greeting me.

I bow down as low as I can, showing him the respect he deserves.

"Master I have news."

"So? Tell them", he answers, crossing his legs and arms at the same time.

"I think I've found your brothers spirit."

* * *

 **Sooo... I am going to stop right here and now.**

 **I slowly start to see the story forming itself on its own. So I'm not going to say too much here. As I said already, show me your interest in my work and I'll upload the next chapters. In other words that means, please leave a review, and tell me your opinion so I'll be able to improve future chapters.**

 **Anyway, everyone who missed the rest of the digidestined: don't worry they would be there in the next chapter.**


	3. Losing your mind

**Hi everyone. I was gone longer than I wanted to be. Had some trouble.. but it'll be fine. so here's the chapter, as usual, please tell me what you think.**

 **I don't own digimon, but I own the two new characters.**

 **Again, English is like my... fifth or fourth language, so please excuse grammatical errors.**

* * *

 _ **Losing your mind.**_

Pain. That's what I'm supposed to feel when I stare at her grave, right? The breathtaking, back breaking pain inside of oneself when you lose the one person you were so sure was your soulmate. The one person you were planning to spend the rest of your life with. The pain that forces you to relive every moment you shared with this person; the laughter, all the dates, all the fights, all the discussions about things you really didn't care about anyway. But you still discussed these topics...because talking to her about these things was better than be without her voice. I'm supposed to feel this pain... so why do I feel so empty? Why do I feel so apathetic? A world without her, wasn't a world I ever wanted to live in.

And now she's gone.

' _You're a leader... you mustn't cry.'_

The words echo through my head for days now. After losing my grip on the battlefield my tears ran dry and it looks like they'll stay like that, forever. They took everything from me, my friends, my family, my girl and my humanity. I'd lie if I'd say that there's still hope for me to get back to my old self; that isn't going to happen after what they did. From now on, it will only get worse.

I force myself to avert my gaze from the desolate gravestone of her and catch my brother's teary eyes. The boy turned eighteen yesterday. What a fucked up situation to celebrate a birthday, but I insisted that we did celebrate. After all... I'd love him if I was able to feel anything right now. He's my brother... the most precious thing I have and I will never let anything happen to him.

* * *

 **Sora's prov**

My back hurts after being bent over half an hour already, but there still are a few bits of broken glass on the floor and I don't really want Kari to get hurt by walking over them. _Thank God she didn't come home last night._ Images of last night haunt me for two hours already –I actually got up at 5am since I slept on the couch... I definitely wasn't in the mood to sleep next to my boozed, weird behaving boyfriend. I love him more than I can probably put in words but he's behaving weird... and that worries me. Usually he discusses everything what troubles him with me, but this time it's different. **He** is different.

I continue to clean up the mess Tai did yesterday and throw away the last bits of glass and the cloth I used to clean the bourbon buddle with. I lean against the kitchen island and relax my shoulders, I should wake Tai up soon... After all we have to get to the digital world in about an hour. And I don't want to be late.

I'm just about to enter our bedroom when I hear Tai's voice. He's talking... to whom?

I enter the room and look around, much to my surprise the sheets on my side look like he didn't even touch them... weird. _Usually Tai's one of those people who toss and turn around the whole night..._

I turn my attention to my boyfriend's voice coming from the bathroom. He's obviously talking to someone...

"Tai?" I call out his name, knocking on the door lightly.

"Yeah?"

"Who are you talking to?" I ask, my confusion growing with each second. Although I know he isn't the type of person who would hide something from me... or even cheat on me or something like that, I can't help but feel kind of uneasy right now.

"Eh... just Matt, he called me, asking me when we have to meet up", he says before adding;" I'll be out in a minute."

I calm down for a second before my inner voice sounds... _he lies_. No... He doesn't, he never would do that...and anyway, what reason does he have to lie to me? I ask myself, turning away from the door and taking up the task to tidy up the bed, that's when I see Tai's mobile phone resting on the bedside table.

* * *

 **Tai's Prov. a little bit earlier/Meantime**

I open my eyes and try to calm down myself. The depressing ivory-colored ceiling stares down on me like a merciless ocean of nothing, laughing at me, threatening me...judging me. My chest rises and falls rapidly. Again... a nightmare. But this one was different. Of course it felt real, but I got used to that already... This time I could recognize the little kid on the other side of the graveyard. I can't shake off the feeling that I know him... I just can't put a finger on it, yet. After taking a few deep breaths I slowly sit up in bed. I'm beyond exhausted... this night was different in many ways. I used to drink a few times when I went out... but never have I ever drank a whole bottle of whiskey. I mean, come on this shit is disgusting. The tedious drunken sleep didn't allow my body –or my soul for that matter – to fully relax and recover from the tiring events I was forced to face these few days. _Guess it won't get any better from now on_...

My head aches painfully and I feel like some weight is pressing me down on the mattress. I feel like shit.

I play with the thought of just getting back to sleep...but since I can guess that Sora's beyond pissed at me –since she didn't even bother to sleep next to me tonight – I get up, take some black pants and a white shirt out of the closet and cross the room to the bathroom.

I close the bathroom door and after getting dressed first I fix the few strands of my hair that just won't stay in place. It's ridiculous really... I always used to make fun of Matt for standing in front of his mirror for hours because he had to fix his hair, now I'm exactly like him. Sighing in frustration I give up and let the few strands hang loosely in my face. It would end up like this anyway.

I straighten my posture and take a look at my reflection after I splashed icy cold water in my face. The only thing that doesn't really fit, is that instead of my usual deep brown eyes there are icy grey eyes staring back at me.

"What the fuck", I gasp and take a step back, but the reflection doesn't move at all.

"Scared?" A deep raspy voice sounds. The Guy in the mirror leans against something I can't recognize, but it looks like he's leaning on the mirror frame. His hair is of a darker brown shade than mine and his eyes seem to pierce right through me. His right arm looks like it was burned a long time ago since it's covered by a few nasty looking burn marks. He wears black pants and a black shirt that reveals a scar right above his heart.

"Who –"

"Am I?" he ends my unspoken question. I can't convey my shock right now. In all these years of being a digidestined I was faced with a lot of creepy and weird things, but nothing like that. The guy however doesn't seem too impressed, neither of my shocked face nor of the fact that he's obviously stuck in a mirror.

"My name's Alec. And I need your help", he says straightening himself and staring directly at my eyes, holding my gaze. _Wow this guy doesn't beat about the bush.._

Although every nerve in my body screams at me to just burst out of the bathroom and forget about this weird conversation I'm having right now I force myself to stay still because... I have to admit I'm quite curious.

"I'm listening."

"Of course you are", Alec mumbles, a smile appearing on his face. However he seems like he'd been expecting that answer from me. "You have to find my body."

 _What the fuck?_

"You're a ghost?" I ask although it's quite obvious actually...

"Wow, you're a genius", he jeers, rolling his eyes.

"And probably the only one who could possibly get you out of a mirror huh?" I respond, feeling kind of offended by his reaction.

"You are", he nods, still staring at me.

Feeling the strong urge to help this guy though I don't really feel comfortable talking to him I just nod, signalizing him to keep talking.

"You have to find my body, it's in a crypt in the desert of server", he says the intensity of his glance not abating for a second.

"I know the desert of server. There is nothing but sand and rocks", I respond scanning the area in my mind.

"This is because the crypt is underground. I know two digidestined who know the exact area and know how to open the crypt, but you have to help", he says, his tone changing from commanding to pleading.

"Yeah sure, but –"

"Tai?" Sora's voice sounds from behind the door, interrupting my conversation with my reflection... god that's so weird. Oh fuck...

"Yeah?" I ask, trying not to sound too shaky or something. I surely don't want her to know anything about a weird dead guy talking to me through a mirror.

"Who are you talking to?" She asks, sounding confused... I can tell she's assuming the worst right now, but as much as I'd love to tell her everything, I really don't want to burden her with this.

"Eh... just Matt, he called me, asking me when we have to meet up", I say... _fuck I hate lying to her_ ;" I'll be out in a minute."

"If she wouldn't be so beautiful I'd surely come up with some insults you're way too young to hear", Alec's voice sounds once again, causing me to turn away from the door and looking once again straight in two empty icy colored eyes. He smiles lightly, crossing his arms.

"I ignore that."

"Tai you're going to meet my brother today. I want you to tell him that I am here and he needs to get me out of your body", he says, changing the subject again.

"Your brother?" I ask being confused all of the sudden again.

"Yes. Don't believe anything he says... he isn't the good guy he claims to be", Alec responds, seeming deep in thought all of the sudden.

I can't help but feel kind of sad for him... _why should his brother be still alive when he's dead already?_ He still stares at me with that intensity of his grey eyes what makes me quite uncomfortable... there is nothing warm in his gaze, though I can't really tell what else there is. _He looks so empty... I can't believe it._

"Why should I trust you?" I ask the only thing that still is on my mind actually. Everything else seems to be vanished. His gaze gets icier within seconds and he looks at me with an expression that expresses he'd like to strangle me or something. But as suddenly as that expression appeared it disappears again and he smiles lightly, his gaze far away.

"Because I didn't kill you yet."

"Wow, that is quite calming", I can't help but be sarcastic... I mean, after dozens of death threats I can't do anything but feel annoyed by this unoriginality.

"I know your daughter", he says, causing my heart to stop for a second. He obviously gets my shocked expression because he adds almost immediately:" I'm alive in the future... but since my body is still buried here in this time I'm starting to vanish. So I needed to come back, to the time I belong to...and I have to see my brother." He averts his gaze and looks thoughtful all of the sudden.

Although he said a few quite confusing things I can't help but think about the daughter he mentioned. Just how far in the future does he live? And who is she? And how does he even know her? The questions flash over and I can literally feel the headache knocking on my door.

"Her brother makes sure that I don't come too close to her, don't worry. But you have to go now", he says, shooting an intense glance in my direction before his eyes turn to the familiar brown orbs of mine, the rest of the reflection going back to normal.

 _What the fuck was_ _ **that**_ _?_

* * *

 **Matt's Prov**

Of all the cool buildings I've seen in the digital world already I have to say, this one beats every one of them. After meeting up with everyone but Sora and Tai at Gennai's he send us here: A giant underground base. After hearing about it I expected something like a two room thing with nothing but couches and a few computers maybe, but nothing like this. As soon as we climbed down a ladder we entered that base. Gennai told us something about at least 47 floors, for me however it looks like a lot more.

So we're sitting here in a high tech command center. Next to me are three empty seats; one with the crest of courage, the other one with the crest of love. The third chair however doesn't have any symbol on it, next to that chair sits Gennai with his gaze fixed on the door, waiting for the missing people obviously.

Suddenly the door opens and Tai and Sora stumble inside, looking around in the room. Since Tai isn't really impressed from the room he takes Sora's hand and pulls her to the table without paying too much attention to our surroundings. I can't help but tense up immediately; _there's something wrong with him._

He takes the seat next to me, face paler than ever, and mumbles some apology for being late that Gennai just waves off. Sora for her part takes her seat after greeting everyone.

"You look like you saw a ghost", I whisper quietly into Tai's ear.

He chuckles lightly: „You have no idea Matt."

I'm just about to start a conversation in asking him what he means by that when Joey speaks up.

"So, Gennai... can you explain this to us?" he asks, gesturing to the room.

"The reason to that is quite easy Joey, bearer of reliability", a rather familiar voice sounds.

A figure enters the room, dressed in casual black pants and a black shirt. My gaze wanders up to his face and I hear me gasp, as well as Tai, Sora and Mimi.

"Mr. Hawkins?" Mimi asks mouth and eyes wide open.

The rest of the digidestined however stares at our prof with mixed expressions. Most of them look confused; others for their part eye him suspiciously.

"You're a digidestined?" Tai asks his face even paler than before.

"Actually I'm –"

"Phoenix? As in, the phoenix?" Veemon asks his eyes wide with shock. Actually... when I look around the room, everyone's digimon wears the same expression as Veemon.

Mr. Hawkins smiles at that, nodding slowly what causes all our partners to bow down. I for my part can't hide my disgust... _Who the hell does this guy think he is that our digimon have to bow down before him?!_

"Am I the only one who feels like she missed something?" Yolei asks frowning lightly and staring at our prof...Actually, I'm not sure if he really is a prof anyway.

"Digidestined I have to tell you a lot", Gennai joins the conversation finally, placing his hands on the table and looking around the table so he caught everyone's gaze at least once.

"Phoenix is a really old friend of mine. He's a very good friend of the sovereign too... such a good friend that the sovereign decided to lean on him and give him the power to rule over the digital world since he helped to build it up too", he starts, earning a few gasps from my teammates. I for my part stare at Tai and wait for a reaction of him, but he just continues to stare at the man sitting next to Gennai.

"So he's like... a god or something?" Davis asks, his arms crossed and frowning as well. _Should have expected him to not be that impressed..._

"You could say that", he says, crossing his legs and smiling lightly at everyone. That smile however doesn't reach his eyes; something I'd say isn't a good thing if it would happen with me or Tai. I have a really bad feeling about this guy.

My gaze wanders over my teammates and gets stuck by my brother who's whispering something into Kari's ear what causes her to frown and slowly shake her head. T.K's obviously feeling that I'm staring at him because he turns his attention to me and shots me glance. I just shake my head and lean back in my chair. The rest of the digidestined however still eyes the stranger –because... what else should I call him anyway? – With a look of suspicious and interest.

"Okay... nice to meet you. But you didn't say why we had to come here", Cody finally joins the conversation.

"Well digidestined I think I should take the lead from here... does someone of you know something about the seven demon lords?" Phoenix asks, looking serious all of the sudden.

Everyone's heads turn to Izzy and Ken who are sitting next to each other. Izzy's already typing something on his mobile phone –he actually started to use that more often than his laptop. Ken for his part seems deep in thought.

"I've heard of them", he says quietly. He probably remembers something.

"Each demon lord symbolizes one of the death sins. They are really strong digimon and the opposite characters of the arch angels of the digital world", Izzy says, staring down at his phone.

"Did you just google that?"

"No Davis... you can't google digimon", Kari answers for Izzy chuckling lightly.

"Yeah... I knew that", Davis responds blushing and averting his gaze from her.

"So these demon lords declared war then?" Tai asks, looking at Phoenix with a rather angry expression.

Of all the things that surprised me today, this is the weirdest. Everyone's gaze turns to our leader who doesn't bother to respond to our questioning looks. He just continues to stare at who feels like our new "boss".

"They did." Is the only thing Phoenix says, holding Tai's gaze. I can't help but remember the first time they saw each other in university. He used to stare at Tai the whole time while lecturing...

"What do you mean 'declared war'?" Sora asks, her voice trembling lightly. Tai who notices the change of behavior of his girlfriend lays his hand on her left thigh, squeezing in an attempt to calm her down. Much to my surprise her posture relaxes immediately.

"Well they build up an army and are attacking a lot of areas in the digital world. Hundreds of digimon had to die already...the situation is calm right now but I'm not sure how long it will last that way", Phoenix says, his gaze finally averting of Tai's and focusing on Sora instead.

"So you really want us to fight against giant armies of digimon?" Mimi asks, from her seat on my left side.

"Not alone", Gennai says before Phoenix has the chance to.

"What does that mean?" Ken asks after taking a glance at a rather nervous looking Yolei. I can't help but feel kind of worried for her well-being. After all she's really similar to Mimi, both hate hurting other digimon, no matter how bad they are. They always see the good in everyone, so I can just imagine what they feel like when they hear we have to fight in an actual war.

"We have armies by ourselves boy. You didn't see them because this base is much bigger than it seems to be. We have thousands of digimon on our side, but although we are much more than them, they have the power of darkness on their side... that makes them much stronger, and much more dangerous", Phoenix says, after glancing at Tai –again.

"But I want you to feel free Digidestined. You don't have to stay and fight if you don't want to", Gennai adds in a gentle voice.

"I'm not sure..." Cody says the one thing that probably everyone in here thinks right now. Almost everyone is staring at their respective partner digimon with a thoughtful expression, me included. I know there's no doubt that Gabumon, as well as every other digimon, won't hesitate and fight for our side. The thing is... I couldn't bear losing him, and I'm sure the others are sharing my opinion.

But when I really think about it there's not much for me to do but stick to what Tai decides for himself. I know I refused to do that when we were first here in the digital world... but as I got closer to him I started to look at him from another angle. I actually started to understand his train of thoughts, his worries and his priorities. And I accept all of them. He's the only one I'd entrust my life.

"What? Cody you can't possibly go home knowing there are digimons getting killed", Davis exclaims, gesticulating wildly.

"Davis, just think about it. Our digimons could get killed too in that fight", Yolei says, holding onto Hawkmon as if she'd had to fear that he disappears right in front of her eyes.

"But we are the digidestined. We have responsibilities!" Davis counters. "Come on T.S say something too!" He adds, turning his attention to T.K.

T.K however turns his stare at Tai after sharing a look with Kari.

"I've known Tai since I was a kid. I decided that my fate rests with him when I was only eight year old. I never regretted my choice in all these years. And I'm sure I won't do it like... ever", my brother says, earning a nod from Kari and from all the older digidestined too.

"We always did that didn't we?" Joey says, chuckling lightly.

"What?" Ken asks, being confused all of the sudden.

"Depending on my decision when they were too lazy to decide for themselves", Tai jokes showing his famous lopsided grin and earning several chuckles from the group.

"So... and what does the leader say in this?" Phoenix asks, his gaze –once again –resting on Tai.

"We fight," is the only thing he says before changing the subject.

"What about you phoenix?"

It's like the temperature in the room fell within seconds to the range negative. Everyone tenses up immediately and Gennai looks at Tai, confusion visible on his face. Although I'm quite sure the younger digidestined don't know what this tone means Tai just used they look like they can imagine what's coming next quite good. I know when Tai is pissed...and I'm able to see almost every emotion in his eyes or in his tone. And I don't really have to look at my best friend to know that he does absolutely not trust this person sitting on the table with us. And he's angry...beyond angry and I can't come up with a logical reason why.

"What do you mean boy?" Phoenix asks quietly, averting his gaze and staring at the hologram map in the middle of the table.

"Are you friend? Or enemy?" Tai asks, leaning forward so he's able to look him into his eyes again.

"You doubt me? Already?" he asks, not being able to hide his amusement.

"You killed your brother, didn't you?" Tai counters, crossing his arms and staring at him with a neutral expression.

Everyone stares at our leader in pure disbelief. _What the fuck?_

"Tai!" Gennai exclaims, absolutely shocked. His eyes are wide and I can tell just by observing his reaction that he doesn't really believe that Tai said –whatever that means anyway... – out loud. Phoenix for his part looks like he just saw someone getting out of his grave. His eyes are wide and seem kind of empty all of the sudden. His breathing has quickened and he kind of reminds me of a cornered animal. Tai for his part just stares at him, his pissed expression from earlier still visible. I honestly have no idea what could have pissed him off so much. At first sight I'd guessed he's just hungover... but I know "hangover-Tai" and this isn't him... at all.

"Well... I have to say; I didn't expect this meeting to take such a turn", Phoenix says quietly, his gaze avoiding Tai's now:" but if I really think about it... Gennai told me something about you having weird dreams."

This however is new... what dreams? I can tell without even looking around that the rest of the team –much to my surprise even Sora –shots Tai confused looks that he just decides to ignore.

"You mean the bits of memories from 1803?" Tai asks in a daring quiet voice. Phoenix closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before answering.

"Tai listen –"

"Wait a second. Sorry to interrupt, but what are you two talking about? What memories Tai? And whom brother? Am I the only one who doesn't get anything in this conversation?" Yolei exclaims, not being able to hide her annoyance. The silence that follows dares to overwhelm everyone in the room, the air is so thick I could possibly cut it with a knife. No one dares to say anything however... until Tai's voice sounds, barely hearable.

"I have these weird dreams for a few days now... at least, I thought they were dreams until I started to..." he starts, frowning lightly when remembering something obviously confusing. The group however stays silent and observes every movement of our leader. Phoenix for his part lowered his gaze and stares at the ground with a grim expression.

"To what Tai?" Ken asks quietly when he doesn't seem to continue.

"That sounds crazy", Tai sighs and closes his eyes, but this time he continues:" **see** things."

"What kind of things?" His sister asks a frown appearing on her usual calm, neutral face.

"Memories", Gennai answers for him:" Tai sees a few long forgotten memories, but I can assure you Tai it means nothing", he continues, looking straight at Tai when adding the last part.

"What do you mean by nothing?" Our leader shots back, looking annoyed all of the sudden what causes Sora to take his hand in hers.

"Tai you're a digidestined... it is absolutely normal that some time something will happen that doesn't make any sense to you, but that doesn't mean that there's some ghost inside of you showing you memories or anything", Phoenix says, reaching over and placing a hand on Tai's arm. Much to my and everyone's surprise Tai doesn't move at all, looking straight at this weird, -kinda creepy –new guy we've got to meet a few minutes ago. Then, as if lighting just hit our leader, he pulls his arm away and stares at Phoenix with wide eyes. I can't do anything but keep my mouth shut and watch my best friend standing up from his seat, mumbling something like 'I need to get out of here' and storming out.

It doesn't take too much time for us digidestined to register what just happened. T.K immediately stands up, in an attempt to follow Tai. "I should –"

"No, let him. For now", Phoenix interrupts him, looking at the door Tai exited just a few seconds ago. His gaze shows no emotion at all, he looks rather... empty, as if there's nothing worth thinking about for him. I have trouble remembering the last time I saw this gaze but after a while I can recognize the same merciless gaze I saw on Myotismon's face a few months ago. As soon as this realization hits me I feel the icy cold shiver making its way down my spine.

T.K sits down again, looking at our teammates, obviously looking for some answers, or anything like that. I for myself would go after Tai too, but much to my displeasure I have to admit that Phoenix is right in this case; we should let him be for now.

After hearing about my best friend's weird... dreams, I can't do anything but let the nagging feeling of guilt overwhelm me. He tried to tell me about it last night... he obviously didn't know how to escape these visions so he got himself drunk. And there I was yesterday, judging my best friend and calling him a schizo for trying to tell me what was really bothering him. _God I'm an ass..._

After taking a look at Sora's expression I can tell she's thinking similar thoughts as I am.

"Alright digidestined. I'll show you your rooms then", Gennai changes the subject, signalizing everyone with this one sentence that they –obviously – made sure that we'd have our own rooms in this giant base.

"So that means we're not going to go home from now on?" Cody asks, seeming quite uncomfortable with the direction this meeting took. I for myself can relate to that, I expected a lot of things coming out of this meeting, but not that I would have to stay here immediately. Much to my relief Gennai smiles, shaking his head lightly.

"No, but I'd like you all to stay tonight since we're still finishing the digital gate in this base. I don't want you to go out without anyone keeping you safe, for obvious reasons", he says before making a gesture for us to follow him.

* * *

 **Tai's prov.**

Images of a little boy holding onto his big, grey-eyed brother appear in front of my mind's eye. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, walking through the long corridor. I have no fuckin idea where I am. But that doesn't matter... my headache is killing me. I stop somewhere in between two massive steel doors and lean against the cold wall. My head is pounding painfully, causing my vision to blur. I remember Joey's tips he gave me once when I was feeling dizzy on a daily basis –right after when I got out of Myotismon's base a few months ago. He told me to focus on a certain point and take a deep breaths, that's what I'm doing right now. Much to my own surprise –as well as my relief –the dizziness fades away. The wall in front of me however is quickly replaced by a new image...

 _ **Vision**_

" _This has to end Alec", my brother tells me, tears forming in his light blue shaded eyes. God, this is so pathetic... I don't even bother to hide my annoyance with him. After everything I taught him he's still tearing up that quickly. If he continues to stay so weak I should end his life before anyone else gets the chance to._

 _He however, obviously believes that he could possibly kill me. Of all the people who tried to kill me now, this one here is the most ridiculous one. As if he'd ever could do something like that. I can't help but chuckle lightly, looking at my little brother without any emotion. I have no emotion left..._

" _Okay, so what do you want to do now Phoenix?" I ask quietly, taking a few steps forward looking him straight in the eyes. His right hand is trembling like a leaf; he's barely able to hold the dagger in his hand. For a guy who just received immortality at the age of 21 you'd probably think he looks more confident. He looks up to me, letting his tears fall already. Oh god this is so sad... I could throw up right now._

" _I have to kill you, you can't keep doing things like this", he says in a pleading voice. God he sounds like a girl..._

" _Things? Don't be afraid to say it out loud little brother", I whisper, taking one more step forward so I'm almost touching him: „You mean... murder innocents?"_

 _I can't help but laugh at his expression. His eyes are wide and he looks at me with a shocked expression. I can tell he's not really sure how to react right now._

" _This isn't you, is it?" he says, taking a step back and looking at me through his tear-stained eyes. I can't help but remember the time I'd pick him up and dry his tears whenever he got hurt and cried for hours. No one really managed to cope with him and his cries... no one but me. I loved him so much, and they took it from me..._

" _You don't have to do this Phoenix", I whisper quietly, my gaze fixing itself on the dagger in his hand. I slowly reach for the item in his right hand but he backs away, fear obvious in his eyes._

" _You're not my brother anymore", he says, his fear being replaced by something new... something I honestly don't really see very often in my brother's face; anger. No, Rage._

 _I can't help but feel quite impressed... although I don't really feel anything lately I'm still able to recognize the emotions I_ _ **should**_ _feel. Seeing him in this state the possibility of him killing me doesn't appear to me as unlikely as before. Looks like I have to find a way to get out of this situation..._

" _Phoenix... little brother", I start, trying my hardest to force the darkness out of my mind and control myself for a little while...:"You don't have to do this, I can do better. I will do better Phoenix I promise", I whisper, placing both of my hands on his neck, forcing him to look at me. He's got the same icy grey eyes as me... the one thing that will always bond us together._

 _The rage in his expression fades away as suddenly as it appeared, leaving nothing but sadness in his gaze._

 _Perfect, I've got him where I want._

 _One more step and I solved this. I take a deep breath and carefully wrap my arms around his broad frame. I can tell by his posture that he tenses up immediately and isn't sure how to react to my sudden move of affection. After all... I didn't even touch him for months. Since the power of darkness claimed me as his..._

 _I'm just beginning to relax and get used to the touch of my brother in my arms when a piercing pain in my chest causes me to fall backwards. I look down at the dagger sticking out of my chest and up to my brother who stares down at me. Much to my surprise he doesn't look sad anymore... no, the look of sadness and the warmth I'm so used to see in his eyes is gone and replaced by... nothing. Absolutely nothing._

 _ **End of vision**_

My heart races, my vision blurs again and I can't manage to calm down myself. All of the sudden I feel like there's not enough air here. My headache got a lot worse and I'm sure I'm on the verge of losing consciousness. _God... what is wrong with me. What's happening?_

I slowly slide down against the wall, sitting on the ground and bend my knees, placing my forehead against them. My heartbeat calms down lightly... leaving me alone in this illuminated corridor. The headache however stays with me... torturing me, driving me crazy, and remembering me of the awful things I just saw...

"You okay boy?" A voice sounds through the silence, causing me to slowly look up and be met with the light blue eyes I was just faced a few minutes ago in my vision. Phoenix looks at me with concern all over his face. I slowly shake my head in response... no, I'm absolutely **not** okay. I feel his hand brushing my head slowly before he places it on my left knee, kneeling down to my level as well. Although this is way too much affection I'd usually need... especially from a stranger, the touch calms me down immediately.

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital sector?" he asks, his eyes never leaving mine. I try my hardest to see something...to read some emotion from his eyes; usually I'm really good at that. But there's absolutely nothing mirroring in his icy eyes. It's like someone sucked everything out of him and left an empty shell back.

' _He's just a shadow of his old self... trying to cope in life without someone to hold him in pieces'_

A voice sounds in the back of my head. I surely have some conclusions where this voice came from... but I'm definitely not going there right now. I silently tell the voice to shut up and try to focus on the person in front of me. Although I felt a rather great anger when I first saw him –probably because of the visions I've got about him... I mean, they're not really showing his nice side –I can't help but feel a certain security growing inside of me. I give him a light grin and shake my head.

"I'm fine, really." God... I even sound as shit as I felt a moment before. Phoenix however doesn't look convinced because he sits on the other side of the corridor and faces me. The robe he took off the robe he was wearing in the commando center earlier. He's dressed in casual black pants with a matching black shirt. He looks like his brother did earlier when I "met" him.

"You still think that a spirit of a dead guy is living in your body?" he starts the conversation he was obviously delaying.

"I'm not sure what is going on with me. Gennai's statement sounds like the most logical one", I reply, once again, looking for anything in his eyes that would tell me whether or not he's trustable. His expression changes and I'm finally able to see some emotion mirroring in his face. If it wouldn't be so dark in here I'd probably say he's tearing up, but I can't really recognize anything since the lights are dimmed.

"So you're convinced that he's in there somewhere?" Phoenix asks, pointing straight at my chest. I literally feel the air leaving my lungs and I feel my breathing getting heavier again.

"Yes."

His icy blue eyes narrow and he smiles lightly. This smile however doesn't reach his eyes. His smiles never really do reach his eyes when I really think about it.

"Do you remember our conversation at the university? You said that conviction depends on the person who tells you something", he starts, causing me to frown... _where is he going with that?_ "Gennai told you that my brother's spirit is inside of you, you trust Gennai. So you're convinced that it is like that. Right?"

Although I feel the massive urge to say no, just to prove him wrong, I nod.

"So, I don't want to offend Gennai. He's one of my oldest friends Tai, but don't you believe that I'm way more experienced that he is? And that I'm definitely the only right person who knows exactly what is going on with **my** brother's spirit?" He smiles, this time he actually looks warmer than all the other times before.

I do have to admit... he has a point. Although Matt was the one who said this about conviction depends on the person you trust, I was agreeing with him at that time since I was discussing with them myself, so I don't have an exit out of this more than uncomfortable conversation.

"So what do you think is wrong with me then?" If he's so convinced that there's nothing about Alec going on with me he sure knows what else causes me to see these disturbing scenes.

"You're a digidestined. The leader of them. I'd say it's pretty usual that you'd see special things in your dreams", he says as if I didn't have the worst nightmares of my life in the past few nights.

"Tai I won't let anyone harm you, you have to believe me when I tell you this", he says, keeping eye contact with me. And as if someone just lifted a ton of rocks off my chest the familiar sensation of trust starts to grow inside of me. I can't help but believe him when he stares at me like that. While losing any sense of time I just continue to stare at his bright eyes slowly realizing that these weird dreams were nothing more than... dreams. _They'll go away. I'm sure._

"I miss him you know", he starts quietly, averting his gaze and staring at his hands in his lab. I don't have to ask who he's talking about.

"I think about him, every day. But he's dead. He found piece and there's no way that he'd –"he stops right in the middle of his little speech, looking at me with a shocked expression. He looks like he already told me too much. But it's too late now for him to back away.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing", he tries to wave the topic off, but he caught my interest.

"You said there's no way he'd... what?" I ask, getting up carefully since I'm not really in the mood to get all dizzy again. Phoenix follows my example and stands up by himself, standing right in front of me. I can't help but feel the icy cold shiver making its way down my spine. _This scene resembles the one from earlier too much._

"Tai there are some things that not even the leader of the digidestined should know about", he says quietly, placing his hand on my shoulder:" you shouldn't rack your brain about things that aren't worth your thoughts."

"Your room is on floor 18 along with the others. Your crest is on the door, so you won't have any difficulties finding It." and with that, he turns around and walks down the corridor on the other side I came from earlier.

Since I don't have any idea what time it is I slowly make my way back to the elevators and press the button with the 18 on it. After all, I really did abandon my partner digimon tonight, and I'm going to make it up immediately. The elevator is made of steel and the door in front of me is glassed, so anyone who's in here is able to see all the floors on the other side of this giant cylindrical base. The floors are on the sides of the cylinder, leading deeper into the underground. In the middle however is nothing, so it doesn't matter if you'll stand on the 36th floor, you'll still be able to look up and everyone else on different floors. I have to say, I'm quite impressed.

The elevator stops and I step out of it, looking around my surroundings. There are several figures I can't really put a name on. They're dressed in complete white uniforms. I wouldn't really think too much of it if there wouldn't be the fact that their faces are half covered by some sort of scarf or something. One of them turns, shots me a glance and nods, gesturing for me to follow the corridor to the other side. Since I don't feel quite comfortable looking at this guy I turn away from him and the center of this base and walk through the long hallway. The light here is much brighter than the one in the lower floor I was before. The walls are in a comforting blue shade and the light is shining in a bright white light.

"Tai?" I hear someone call my name and turn around immediately, just to be met with my little partner digimon. My grin appears naturally on my face and my mood immediately lifts.

"Agumon, I actually was on my way to you", I continue to grin and kneel down to his level.

"We were worried about you. But you seem to feel better now, do you?" my friend asks me, reaching out to cup my face in his claws. I don't really bother to answer that since... I don't really know how I'm feeling right now, so I just nod and let him stare at me a little while longer.

"Are you hungry?" he asks me all of the sudden. Normal me would probably accept the offer but I wasn't my old self for a few days now so... I'm not really surprised by the fact that I'm not hungry, at all.

"No I –"I start but get interrupted immediately.

"When was the last time you ate?" a new voice echoes through the hallway. I turn away from my digimon and come face to face with Davis who's approaching me, dressed in a few baggy pants and a shirt.

"You know what, I'll get you something", he says, not even bothering to wait for my response, or my protest in this case.

"Alright", I mumble since I know how stubborn he is. There's really no point in arguing with him right now. He grins brightly at me before turning to Agumon. "Feel like accompanying me?"

"And get extra food? You bet!" Agumon exclaims.

"We'll be right back Tai", Davis says, his gaze now turning back in my direction.

"Okay, I'll be in..." I turn around and take a quick look on the doors until I spot a door with the symbol of the crest of love, as well as the crest of courage on it:" my room", I say and point to the door. Davis gaze flickers for a second to the door and then back to me.

"She's not in there if you don't feel like facing anyone right now", he says in an unusual serious voice. I can't believe that he actually saw right through me. Although I love nothing more than to cuddle with my girlfriend and actually not being alone... I feel the sudden need to just have some alone time and come to terms with myself again. I was out of it for far too long and seeing that we're in a rather dangerous situation right now it's badly needed that I've got a clear mind.

I thank Davis quickly and turn around –

"Tai?" Augmon's voice causes me to look back immediately, he eyes me with concerned eyes:" you'll call when something's wrong okay?"

I can't help but smile lightly. Reassuring him that I'm really fine and surely will manage to be alone for some time until they return with food I approach my door and enter the room. I don't know what I expected it to look like, but I surely didn't expect something as nice as this. The room is large, but of course windowless. The furniture however comes up for the lack of sunshine. The walls are in warm burgundy colors as well as the carpet on the floor. The bed is gigantic and made of dark wood. There are two covers, as well as two pillows resting on it, making it clear for me that I'll be sharing this room with Sora. It was obvious really... I mean, the symbols on the door are a clear message. But I like the thought, a lot. I was honestly starting to worry about that anyway... I got so used to sleep next to her and feel her on my chest that I doubt I could sleep without her, unless I'm drunk. But then I'm comatose so that doesn't count.

Right next to the bed on each side is a small bedside table with a lamp on it. There's a giant map covering the right wall next to me. I don't have to take a long look at it to know that it shows the several continents of the digital world. On my left side however is a door. Since my curiosity gets the best of me I approach the door and open it lightly, what causes the lights in the room to go on. Much to my surprise it's a bathroom. The tiles are completely grey and there are tiny lamps covering the ceiling, looking like small starts actually, but much to my surprise they're giving away more light that one would expect. There's a shower in a corner and sink on my left. I turn around and look up, just to be met with the cold grey eyes I already saw this morning. _Fuck, I didn't even notice the mirror here._

"Missed me?" his voice is low. Dangerously low. _No... I'm imagining things again, he's not real._ _I'm dreaming again. I_ close my eyes and turn around, though I can already hear him chuckle.

"So let me guess. My brother tried to convince you that I'm not real and that you're just imagining things huh?"

I immediately turn around and face the guy in the mirror again. He didn't change in appearance... though I could swear that he looks a lot unhealthier now than earlier this day. He's holding something that looks like a broken piece of glass.

"How do you know that?" I ask, not believing what I just heard. He however just smiles sadly, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"He likes to believe that I'll be gone forever. He isn't the nice little guy he makes you think he is Tai", he says, opening his eyes again and revealing, once again, emotionless ice colored eyes. He stares silently at me.

"I'm really sorry but I have to show him that I'm here", he says his gaze glued on me. I really do have some trouble right now to get what he's talking about, but seeing him lift his right arm with the broken piece in his hand causes me to back off from the mirror immediately.

"Don't worry, I'll try not to hit too important organs." And with that he hauls off and stings the sherd right into his belly, causing him to bend down in pain immediately. Just a second later I feel the breathtaking pain hitting me right in my middle area. I kneel down on the floor and hold onto my stomach, not daring to look down since I feel my blood on my hand already. _What the fuck is happening now?!_

I don't really have to wonder about that too long however, because I feel like I black out already.

* * *

 **So, I hope you liked this chapter. I had some trouble writing it but I hope it isn't that obvious. anyway please leave a review and tell me what you think. I'm trying a few really new things out with this fic so I'm really unsure how I manage to do it. Added to that I'm debating whether I should include a lemon in this story or not, the question is; would you like one? So please, tell me.**


	4. Hello Brother

**It took me long again. I know. Sorry about that.**

 **As usual...English is my fifth language, I'm sorry about the possible mistakes.**

 **Disclaimer; I don't own digimon.**

 **But I own Alec, Phoenix and some more you'll get to know soon.**

 _ **Hello brother**_

* * *

The overwhelming, bone-crushing darkness presses me down on the hard, cold ground I'm lying on. _Where am I? What has happened to me?_

Images of a little boy throwing himself in my out-stretched arms flash in my mind's eye. The unmistakable, heart-warming sound of his laughter sounds in my ears, accelerating my heart beat to the point of unbearable. The second I allow myself to think about him I feel the ache taking away all the happy memories I was holding on so desperately. The images blur and I'm left alone...Alone again.

 _He was the one who killed you... why are you wasting your time by thinking about him any longer?_

 _He didn't want you in his life... that's why he got rid of you._

 _You're worthless._

The immense pressure on my chest just got a ton heavier and I feel like there's no air left in here...wherever "here" is. I force myself to get rid of these disturbing thoughts and try to focus on something else again. The icy blue eyes of the little boy appear once again and I feel the tension fading away immediately. I close my eyes, blocking my inexistent surroundings. _He loves me... though I was shit, he still loves me. I'm sure. He can't hate me... I couldn't bear if he'll hate me –_

The sudden sound of something shattering into million pieces causes my eyes to dart open again just to be blinded by the bright sudden sunlight. My body immediately relaxes, letting go of all the thoughts and images that were torturing me. I look up and stare straight into the sun, enjoying the sudden brightness and the comforting sunshine that's warming up my frozen body.

The sight however is blocked by someone who hovers over me. Her long brown locks fall over her shoulder in a perfect way, framing her tender looking face. She's got unusual high cheekbones and full lips that awaken the desire in me to lean up and kiss her immediately. I allow myself to take a look at her eyes.

However in the moment I do so I feel losing myself in these endless seeming dark brown eyes of hers. _God, she's beautiful._

* * *

 **Gennai's Prov**

He stares at the boy lying on the pale white bed. Though he learned to hide most of his emotions the sunlight that's caressing his cinnamon colored skin reveals the unshed tears in his eyes. There's probably nothing I'd like to do more than to ask him about his thoughts right now... but I know my master. He'll never reveal anything that would cause him to appear weak.

The rhythmical beeping of the monitor next to the bed sounds through the whole room, creating a grueling atmosphere. I saw Tai getting hurt a lot in the past years... he never was the type of guy who thinks much about safety. At least... his own safety, so it isn't unusual to see him lying on a bed, connected to a heart monitor and a transfusion in his arm.

The digidestined visited him consecutively. I don't blame them for not being able to stay here longer than 10minutes. The sight of their usual strong, bold leader lying on this bed, looking so fragile and small must have discountenanced them. _The war didn't even begin and we've got already a broken digidestined..._

I force my gaze away from Tai's pale face and continue to stare at my master who's still sitting motionless on the boys' left side, his gaze sticking onto Tai's left bandaged arm. I feel the icy cold chill running down my spine when remembering the reason we had to bandage his arm. The sight of the scratched words across his arm is still vivid in my mind.

 _ **I am here**_

Three simple words that will remind Tai forever of these events. Three simple words that changed Phoenix' life rootedly. Words that force my master to start accepting the truth he was running away from and while doing this putting one of the most important people in my life in immense danger. And the longer Phoenix hesitates the worse the situation will get. For all I know Alec won't stop now until we free his spirit.

"How is he?" A raucous voice of a girl snaps me out of my daze. I turn around to face Sora who's leaning on the doorframe, wearing black sweats and a white shirt that obviously belongs to Tai since it's way too large for her slim body.

"He'll be fine", I answer and force myself to give her the best reassuring smile I can bring up right now. Sora however just stares at her boyfriend, crossing her arms before her chest –a sign that she's starting to get cold. Her puffy eyes in addition with her messy burgundy hair make the fact that she's not handling the situation well really obvious.

"That's what he always does, isn't it", she says more than asking it before turning around and leaving the hospital wing again.

* * *

 **Sora's prov**

The intense ache in my chest doesn't seem like fading away so soon. Seeing the one person you love most in the whole world lying lifelessly on a bed, connected with more machines and cables you're able to bear looking at, has the effect on you. The rest of the digidestined couldn't bring themselves to visit Tai more than just once. I'm not miffed about it one bit... I know exactly what they must feel, because I'm feeling it too.

Tai's the person that strengthens your back and doesn't let yourself down whatever is happening. He's the one who always gets us out of trouble, safe. But most of the time he forgets to keep himself safe too, and that's what happened yesterday. He claimed to be okay with being alone, sure I can relate to that, I like to be alone sometimes too, but he knew that something's seriously wrong and didn't bother to even think about it. That's why he –as well as the rest of the digidestined –has to cope with the consequences. The memory of the alarm's sound and the red light suddenly going on in the whole base haunts me still. That was the sign that something wasn't right. At least...that's what Phoenix told me with a worried expression when the ear-piercing sound started. He then, took off in a run and raced in the direction where our rooms are located. That was the moment when Davis' face lost all color and he too, followed by Agumon, run after Phoenix. I can't remember much of last night's events that happened after that. I know that Davis panicked and ran around, blaming himself though I don't really see how it could be his fault that someone tried to kill Tai, again.

I let out a deep sigh and enter the lounge. Though this whole base is located underground they managed to design it rather comfortable here. The lounge's walls are deep red –matching my hair – and there are several chocolate brown sofa's with black cushions on it. The carpet on the ground is fluffy and extends itself all over the room's ground. The sizzling sound of the fire chimney in the corner sounds through the whole room, lulling oneself when entering the room.

The digidestined are all seated on the several sofas, some of them even lying on the soft carpet with their respective partners. Agumon for his part is joining Davis on the ground next to Veemon. Agumon also was one of them who couldn't bear to be longer in Tai's hospital room than necessary. I don't blame him. I mean... I'm one of them too.

Matt's head snaps in my direction as soon as I close the door behind me.

"How is he?" he asks, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees. I just shake my head since I'm not really sure if I'm able to even make any sound. My throat aches painfully and I can tell that I'm going to be ill soon.

Matt, as well as everyone else in the room, leans back again and continues to stare aimlessly around.

I take the seat next to Kari on the couch and reach for a blanket in an attempt to suppress the cold.

"This war hasn't even begun and we already almost lost somebody", Yolei whispers quietly staring down on her hands in her lab.

"That's not true... he's fine", Joey argues. He never was really the type of person who could accept something like that anyway. I feel Kari shifting beside me uncomfortably. After taking a glance at her I can tell that she's debating whether she should join the conversation or remain silent as usual. Though living with not only her brother but also me did change her in some way and made her a little braver, she's still not comfortable to join an argument. Though... I'm not sure if that really is an argument...yet.

"He will be", Davis says, sitting up and facing Yolei with a rather pissed expression. "If you don't want to be here you can go home remember?"

"I didn't say anything about going home!" Yolei exclaims, leaning forward and eying Davis angrily. Though I know deep down that I probably should interfere and end this argument before it gets out of hand but I don't feel like I can mobilize enough strength to do so right now. It's like Tai's situation sucked out everything out of me, leaving nothing but an empty shell.

"You didn't have to. Your statement was clear enough for everybody here", Davis responds not less angry than Yolei.

"You little –"Yolei starts but Hawkmon –thank god –shuts her up in using one of his wings to cover her mouth. I'm sure that whatever it was she was going to say, she would regret it at latest when she calms down.

"Do you really think that this is the right time to argue?" T.K interrupts them by entering the room with a cup of steaming tea in his hand. I didn't even notice that he left the room before. _God I'm really out of it._

He crosses the room and hands the cup to Kari with a small smile before sitting down on the ground, right beside Kari. Yolei and Davis however seem like they calmed down for the most part and avoid each other's gaze.

"Anyway, what happened to Tai has nothing to do with our enemies", Izzy says quietly, catching most of the digidestined's attention.

It's true; everyone immediately made a connection between our new enemies and Tai's injury. But no one really thought about the things Tai said at the "conference" earlier yesterday. It's funny really. Everyone thinks about the enemies we never faced before but no one really cares about the fact that Tai obviously was able to see some long forgotten visions of a time none of us was alive.

"How do you know that?" Cody asks, frowning lightly since he's one of them who made said connection immediately after receiving the message that Tai got stabbed. And I mean, stabbed in the way of someone driving a piece of shattered glass into your body, causing you to almost bleed to death. That's exactly what has happened to my boyfriend.

"Because I told him that."

Everyone turns their head to the door where Gennai just entered the room, looking like he didn't sleep for almost two days...what is true actually.

"So? Who did this to him if not one of our enemies?" Mimi asks, looking confused. In fact, I expected her to remember what Tai has said today and understand what has happened. But since she didn't get any sleep too –lack of sleep has always affected her more than the rest –I don't get mad or anything.

"I'm not the one who should tell you all this, I'm sorry Mimi", Gennai responds, looking really sad all of the sudden. However he recovers rather quickly and turns to Matt, his expression as serious as usual. "Tai woke up. But he won't let us touch him... I think it would be best if –"

Matt however doesn't even bother to let him finish the sentence, he immediately gets up. "I'm coming."

The rest of us need some more time to fully realize what Gennai just said. But as soon as the meaning of his words gets clear we're already overwhelming Gennai by mainly the same questions. What happened? Who was it? When will he be able to get out of this bed?

I for my part can't do anything but stare at the scenario; 9 digidestined besetting a rather old, really tired man. Before I even realize what I'm doing I stepped before Gennai.

"STOP THAT!"

Everyone immediately shuts up and stares at me in shock. I can't really blame them for their reaction, usually I'm shouting only at Tai in this way, but they were getting on my nerves.

I shot everyone a glare, signalizing them to keep their mouths shut for now. Matt for his part is already half out of the door but turned around when he heard me. Now he's just standing there, obviously waiting for me to say something now that I've got everyone's attention.

I for my part just turn around and face Gennai and ask him in a way calmer way.

"Well?"

He gives me a small relieved, but at the same time sad, smile before answering. "He's fine. The wound will heal and there's no serious damage. Nothing I couldn't handle. But I'd like to check him up actually now that he's awake. But he won't let me, neither Phoenix get near him. The moment he woke up he was asking about Matt, that's why I came", he says, shooting Matt a quick glance.

The blond however doesn't waste any minute anymore and exits the room.

I can't help but feel kind of disappointed by Tai's actions. As girlfriend you'd think that the first person your partner wants to see is you, but not when Tai Kamiya is your boyfriend. Then the only person he wants to see is Matt. But I got used to that, so I don't really get too pissed about that. Anyway the fact that he doesn't want Phoenix or Gennai for that matter to come even near them does worry me a lot more. Much to my surprise the others share my opinion.

"What do you mean by he won't let you come near him?" Kari asks, crossing her arms in front of her chest, obviously a gesture of defensive.

Gennai however crosses the room and takes a seat on one of the sofas, causing the rest of us to sit down in front of him. He places his elbows on his knees and looks down on the carpet, blocking our view into his eyes.

"When I heard him stir I knew he was going to wake up. And I was right, a few minutes after that he woke up so you all can imagine how relieved I was", he starts, lifting his gaze and giving us the first honest smile for today, causing us to mirror the gesture.

"However when Phoenix tried to reach out for him it was like Tai got hit by lighting or something. He jumped out of the bed and backed away from both of us, saying things like we shouldn't even dare to come near him ever again. A few of our white warriors had to sedate him because he would have hurt himself otherwise." Gennai lowers his head again seeming deep in thought all of the sudden.

I for my part try my hardest to understand what our mentor just told us.

"Can we visit him?" Kari asks from her spot next to us, not even bothering to go into what Gennai just told us. Said old man however just shakes his head slowly.

"I'd rather you wait for Matt to find out what went wrong with your leader before you see him. Besides, Phoenix wants you all to be in the command center in about half an hour." With that he gets up from the sofa crossing the room again. Since this rather unusual twist of our situation overwhelms us to a certain degree we just nod and watch Gennai exit the room.

"Is it just me or is this whole situation really fucked up?" Davis asks. We don't answer him though; we all know that he didn't really expect us to anyway.

* * *

 **Matt's Prov**

As soon as I reach the right floor I already can hear my best friend's voice out of one of these many rooms. The hospital wing is gigantic. As soon as the elevator doors open it feels like you entered a whole new building. Everything's bright and white whereas the rest of this base is held in rather dark colors. But this is not the time to amaze the design of this place.

I take off in a run and open the door to Tai's room just to freeze up immediately because my heart –as cheesy as it sounds – shatters in million pieces by the sight that reveals itself in front of my eyes.

There on the clear white bed lies my best friend –my brave leader – being held by four figures in white uniform. Two of them hold his arms in place while the other two try the same with his legs –what is a rather difficult task since Tai's a great soccer player and has quite strong legs. The fifth figure however hovers over him holding an injection in his gloved hand. I hadn't had a good feeling the first time when I saw these figures in the corridors already, and my antipathy just got a whole lot worse.

"Let go!" Tai's voice snaps me out of my daze and I feel the anger boiling inside of me. I can tell that he's in great pain by the sound of his voice. He struggles to get free like some wild animal. One of the warriors however tightens his grip on Tai's arm, obviously totally forgetting about the heavy bandage on my friends said arm. The moment I hear him cry out in pain and calling my name at once is when I lose my patience. Before I even realize what I'm doing I already showed one of these bastards away from him, causing said bastard to stumble backwards and the other four to back off immediately. I glare at them angrily before placing my hand on Tai's shoulder.

He opens his eyes slowly and calms down the second he realizes who's standing beside him. He reaches out for me and pulls me closer to the bed, burying his face in my shirt. I can't do anything but freeze again. I never saw him act like this.

"Make them leave please", he whispers quietly. I don't hesitate to do so; I turn around and face these spawns.

"You heard him." The figures look at each other before nodding and exiting the room, leaving me alone with Tai. I feel his grip immediately loosen and he backs away again, laying down on the bed.

I don't really need to say anything. I just sit down beside his bed and look at him. His hair is flat for once, framing his unusual fragile looking face. The sparkle in his eyes I got so used to see whenever he met me is gone, replaced by dull chocolate colored orbs. His gaze seems cloudier than the time when I got him out of Myotismon's base.

 _God knows what they injected him already..._

"Phoenix wants us to go to the command center in half an hour", I tell him, because... I don't really know how to start a conversation right now. I can deal with an angry Tai, a drunken one too...or even a sad one. But I can't deal with a Tai who got drugged with medicine. And the chances of getting an explanation by him of what happened to him is highly unlikely, considering the state he's in right now. Whatever these wannabe digital warrior-doctors did to him, I don't like it. And I'm going to talk with Phoenix about it, since it seems like everyone's following his orders in here.

Tai for his part continues to stare at the ceiling for a little while longer before turning to me and giving me his full attention.

"Would you mind to tell me what it was about when it's over?" he asks me, not giving away any sign of emotion. I can't do anything but nod since this version of my leader literally dumbfounded me.

"You're not going to come?"

"Every movement of my body hurts Matt. I'd die of pain until I reached the commando center", he answers, siting up slowly. I can tell by the way he shuts his eyes and holds his breath that even this gesture is hurting him immensely. The blanket slides down his chest, revealing the heavy bandage his abdomen is covered with. I can't help but let my gaze wander over the bandage.

"Don't stare like that", my best friend snaps, pulling the covers up again and blocking my view. The fact that he also hid his left arm under the blanket didn't get unnoticed by me.

I have to say I'm a little bit taken back since I didn't really expected him to react that way because something like me staring at his injured stomach. He obviously gets my confused glance because he mutters an apology immediately after.

"Thanks for coming", he says quietly, straightening his posture and looking at me what seems like the first time he's actually really **looking** at me. The dullness of his eyes faded away lightly, letting the barely noticeable sparkle to get through.

"Anytime. Though I think Sora's pissed at you", I respond, fighting the urge to grin since I don't think it is the right place to do so. Tai however seems not to share my opinion since a lazy grin appears on his face strengthening the light sparkle in his eyes. I feel the pressure that's been keeping me down for the last 24hours fading away, being replaced by the comfortable sensation of carelessness. Though everyone kept telling me that he'd be fine I refused to let my hopes get high, after all... he didn't show any vital signs when Phoenix found him. _Phoenix..._

"I have to go", I say realizing by thinking about this new guy we've got to meet that I actually have to head to the command center already. After everything what Phoenix has done for Tai –he was the one who refused to leave his side after all – I should at least be on time for a meeting with him. I feel Tai's fiery gaze wandering over me when I stand up from my chair beside him. However he just nods, gesturing for me to leave now.

"Don't forget to tell me everything afterwards", he says, leaning down on the bed again. I give him a quick nod and exit the room though I look back once again. The moment I do so however he seems like he's already falling asleep again. I really have to talk with phoenix about their weird medical care _. God knows what they did to him that causes him to behave so weird._

I step into the elevator and press the button for the lowest floor. The elevator immediately starts to move down and I literally can feel the pressure growing the deeper I get into the ground. The elevator stops with a faint "Bing" and the doors slide to the side, revealing the corridor that leads to the center of this floor.

Though every floor in this base is designed that the middle is hollow – much like Piximon's base actually, just underground – this floor resembles an air-raid shelter. I cross the short corridor and stop in front of the door, realizing that something has changed. While it was rather easy to enter the room yesterday by just walking in there's a palm print scanner right next to the door, the words PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF, blinking right above the device.

Not sure whether I should just knock on the door or just try and lay my hand on the scanner I just follow my instincts and decide for my second choice. Before my mind even realizes what I'm doing my hand lays over the scanner, causing its original blue color to get white at first, just to change from white to green. A mechanical, female voice sounds suddenly

"Identity confirmed. Please enter Yamato Ishida."

I can't help but stare for a moment in awe at the scanner that changed its color again to blue. A moment later however the door of the command center opens, revealing the familiar room I was in already. This however didn't change really... there's still the giant monitor that takes a big part of the round wall, the several complicate looking computers on the rest of the sides and some white warriors I was faced before in Tai's room are standing all around the room, looking absolutely still. I'm surprised that I am actually the last one to enter the room since everyone else is already sitting on their respective seats. I quickly cross the room and take my seat next to Tai's empty one.

I can feel everyone's gaze on me but I don't feel like talking about our leader right now in front of so many people I don't trust.

"Later." I say, before leaning back in my seat and waiting for Phoenix to start this meeting like last time.

He for his part just sits still on his seat, staring aimlessly around. His icy grey-blue eyes mirror some emotion for the first time. The only thing I can read from them however is pure confusion. Like someone who's watching these events were living through right now and can't really understand what's going on. He looks... almost lost. _Almost_. There's still something in his gaze that proves me otherwise, what it is however I can't really tell, not yet anyways.

Since Phoenix doesn't seem like starting this meeting the silence in this room is getting to the point of unbearable what causes Davis –as usual – to break it.

He places both of his elbows on the table in front of us and stares right at Gennai and Phoenix. From what I see in his expression I can tell he's not really happy with them...

"Are you going to tell us why exactly our leader is in no condition to leave the bed?" he asks in a quite unusual calm voice.

Phoenix jerks by his tone and changes his position finally, mirroring Davis in placing his elbows on the table.

"I'm not sure..." he starts and I can tell by his voice that he's more than just drained of energy. However his response pisses the ones who came to their own right conclusions about Tai's injury off. Sora's the first one to talk.

"You still refuse to accept the obvious? Really?!"

"It isn't that –"he starts to defend himself but Gennai interrupts him.

"What he's trying to say digidestined is... we know too less to come to conclusions about the cause of Tai's injury right now", he says giving his best not to sound too nervous about his obvious lie. I can tell by his gaze that he's not okay with the behavior of his "master" how he calls him. But he's obviously in no position to doubt him. I can't help but feel the anger boiling inside of me, _who the hell does this wannabe god think he is?!_

"So you're saying that the Guy Tai was seeing in his visions hasn't anything to do with him being hurt right now?" Kari asks, her arms crossed before her chest and her gaze focused on Phoenix who seems to get shrink under her gaze.

"No I don't think that there's a connection between these two things", he says, refusing to look at anyone of us.

"So you think that I scratched these words in my arm for fun?" A voice sounds from behind, causing us to turn around and stare in shock at our leader who just entered the room. Though he looks a lot better than before –probably because he showered and got dressed properly – I can tell that he's still in rather great pain by the way he's holding his stomach. Although I can't come up with a logical explanation how he managed to get out and dressed so fast I'm really glad that he managed to come down here.

"Tai! You shouldn't be out of bed!" Joey exclaims, getting up immediately to support him. He places Tai's arm around his shoulder and makes an attempt to help him to his seat. Tai however doesn't move an inch, indicating Joey that he's not going to move, at all. T.K is just about to stand up as well and help them –

"I'm fine T.K", Tai says, causing my little brother to sit down again, his gaze however –as well as everyone else's – still fixed at Tai and Joey.

"I asked you something", Tai says looking back at Phoenix and driving everyone's attention back to the original theme of this whole meeting.

"Tai you don't know what you're talking about", Phoenix responds his expression changed from confused to angry within seconds.

"Look at you! You don't even believe in your own words!" Tai exclaims, getting angry all of the sudden. The younger digidestined look at our leader in shock and I need a moment to understand their reaction. _They actually never saw him that angry before..._

The older ones however duck their heads since they know exactly that there's no making fun with an angry Tai. I mean... they saw him being beyond pissed at me enough, and that was when he was eleven... I can tell they were not planning to find out what it will be like when he's an adult.

I'd love to interfere right now and I can tell that the rest of us want too, but nobody dares to interrupt them.

"Tai –"he starts again but I can tell that Tai's losing his patience because he interrupts him again.

"Don't you fuckin "tai" me! How do you explain this?!" he asks, ripping off the bandage he's got on his arm and revealing the scratched words.

I feel the cold shiver making its way down my spine when reading these words. I wasn't around when he was found –neither was one of us digidestined. Apart from Davis but he wasn't able to see his wounds either. Phoenix had everything covered up by the time Davis reached the room. Several gasps sound through the room, signalizing that everyone finally got what exactly happened to Tai, though the way how it was possible to be stabbed by someone from a vision is unexplained still.

Phoenix stares blankly at Tai's outstretched arm, the words clearly visible. His breathing quickens and all of the sudden his façade falls, revealing the desperation he's feeling right now.

I avert my gaze and turn to look at Tai, who immediately replies my gaze. I try my hardest to signalize him somehow to calm down and not to be too hard to him since –I have to admit – I start to feel bad for him.

"You're scared...", Tai continues –much to my relief in a way softer tone, causing to snap Phoenix out of his momentous daze and looking straight at our leader, his eyes wide in shock. He doesn't dare to speak out yet.

"You're scared because you know that you won't be able to end his life a second time", our leader continues.

The room is dead silent. I let my gaze wander over every digidestined and every digimon on the table. While some of them look still quite confused, most of them wear a determined expression. I can tell by just observing them that they already compassed a plan out of this situation. Knowing them they won't start talking about this before we're not alone. And I mean, not being surrounded by untrustworthy people.

Feeling the sudden urge to join this argument finally I lean forward and speak out for the first time.

"Tai and I are brothers ourselves. We can tell how you must feel right now", I say, trying to sound as calm as possible though I don't feel calm at all.

Phoenix eyes me with sad eyes.

"You don't know what he's like..." he says, his voice revealing how scared he is all of the sudden. Whatever his brother is like, he has to be quite the bad guy that Phoenix is acting so weird. Though I don't know him that well I could tell by his appearance only that it would take a lot to bring him down to this level.

"Is he really that bad?" Cody asks quietly.

"As far as I remember Elecmon always used Alec as the bad guy in his scary stories", Palmon says causing Phoenix to chuckle lightly.

"He was the most terrifying and merciless person that was ever alive in the digital world. Myotismon was an angel in comparison with him", Gennai says.

"I don't believe that", Tai says quietly from his spot next to Joey. The fact that he's hanging dangerously lose on Joey's neck, alarms me immediately. I get up from my seat and cross the room, placing Tai's injured arm as carefully as possible around my neck, supporting him as well. He mumbles some gratitude before pulling himself together and straightening his posture. Sora's concerned glance does not get by unnoticed by me.

"Tai due all respect. You don't know him", Gennai says in a calm voice. Tai however is just about to respond but Davis is quicker than him.

"So if he's that bad we will have to make sure he doesn't do anything bad, right?"

"What do you mean?" Ken asks, joining the conversation finally.

"I think what he's trying to say is that we take the part as his personal watchman or something" T.K tries to explain, earning a nod from Davis. Though I don't really feel that this would be a good solution, Phoenix seems like he's thinking about it.

"We still can think about that later. First of all we have to set priorities. And I'd say this would be to keep Tai safe. In other words; free Alec's spirit", Gennai says, looking straight at Phoenix while talking.

The silence that follows is longer than the last one, making everyone nervous in here. It feels like years until Phoenix finally nods.

"Thank God", I hear Tai mumble next to me so just Joey and I can hear him. I feel his arms going limp immediately after that, his knees bend in right after. Joey and I grab him by his arms and lower him on the ground. In a second Sora's right next to us, followed by Phoenix and the rest of the digidestined –including Gennai.

"What happened? He was fine a minute ago!" Kari exclaims, falling down on her knees next to him.

Phoenix bends down next to me and takes Tai's face in his, lifting his head up. After examining him for a few seconds he stands up again.

"He's just drained. Matt could you take him back to the hospital –"he starts.

"No way will I bring him back there. God knows what they drug him with", I reply, using the most inhumane voice I can come up with. That however catches every digidestined's attention, causing them to turn and look at Phoenix, confusion and anger written on their faces. He hesitates for a moment before he speaks up again.

"Bring him to his room", he says before turning around again, "This meeting is not over yet."

"Matt I'll take him, stay here", Joey says quietly, lifting Tai up by himself. Usually it would be quite difficult to carry an all grown up soccer player to his room, but since Tai is a feather weight I trust Joey to be able to take him up by himself.

"I'll help you", Cody says following Joey out of the room.

The rest of us however keep standing in a circle, staring down on the spot where Tai was leaning on me and Joey a second ago. I can't believe what just happened... just as we all thought that he's getting better he blacks out in front of us. Though I understand that he was drained of energy I still can't fully accept that this was the only reason he collapsed.

"I said the meeting's not over yet." Phoenix' voice snaps me out of my daze. I walk back to my seat what causes the rest to follow my lead and take their seats too.

"So... since we agreed to bring my brother back there are a few things we have to get", Gennai says.

"Like what?" Yolei asks, being one of the only ones who feels like talking right now. The older ones however are too bound to Tai – what means his collapse affects us in another way – to think straight now.

"Well... to open the crypt his body is located in, we need Twins. To be exact... digidestined Twins", he says as if it's the simples thing to find genetically identical digidestined.

"I called them already..." Gennai says quietly. Earning a handful confused looks from us. And a shocked one from Phoenix.

"You called them behind my back?" he says, though he sounds quite angry he doesn't show it. Gennai for his part does not bother to acknowledge his master's change in mood.

"Who did you call?" T.K asks, his curiosity getting the best of him.

Phoenix however ignores him and continues to talk to Gennai:" Do you really think that a time travel is a good idea in our situation?"

 _Time what?!_

"I told you I've got my priorities settled. I already let Tai get hurt, I'm not going to repeat that mistake neither with him nor the rest of the digidestined."

"Who did you call?" Sora asks again, a lot louder –and a whole lot angrier – than T.K, gaining both, Phoenix' and Gennai's attention. While Phoenix does not seem like answering her Gennai does.

"Since we need two powerful twins that are digidestined it would be best if we'd chose two digidestined that are... related to two of you", he says.

Suddenly the word time travel and "related to two of you" combine itself in my mind, causing me to get a clear picture of the situation. I can't help but steal a glance at Sora who's looking like she's struggling to come up with her own conclusion.

"You're telling me that it is possible to travel through time?" Izzy asks with wide eyes.

"Everything's possible in the digital world, did you forget that?" Veemon says from his spot on Davis' lap.

"Veemon is right. It is possible indeed, but I'd rather you wouldn't have called her", Phoenix says, earning a glare from Gennai.

"And him."

"As if she's not bad enough already", he replies, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"So who's children did you call Gennai?" I ask though I can tell already who's kids he's talking about.

"Wait! What children?" Davis asks his shock and confusion written all over his face.

"A pair of you got twins in the future, really powerful digidestined I have to say, and I called them since they're powerful enough to build up a time gate", Gennai answers Davis' question, but ignores mine.

"So? Whose kids did you call?" Davis asks, being the third one who asks the same question actually.

"Isn't it kind of obvious?" A foreign voice sounds, causing everyone in the room to turn around and face the two new persons who just entered the room.

"I'm that bad Phoenix? Really?" The girl says, approaching the table slowly, followed by a guy who looks rather annoyed himself.

Both of them are about the same height though the girl's a little smaller than him. They both got reddish brown hair and deep fiery brown eyes. While the girl's hair falls down in locks over her shoulders the boy's sticks out, as if he'd just run a marathon. They both wear black pants with a matching black top. The boy however rolled up his sleeves, revealing a left tattooed arm. He's broad and even an amateur could tell that he's working out daily, the girl however is rather skinny... though there is something in her that gives the intention that she's a lot stronger than her companion.

It really is obvious whose children they are though.

"Who are you?" Yolei asks.

I don't even bother to follow Gennai's explanation of the two digidestined. I for my part focus on Sora's expression. Her gaze following every movement of the twins in awe.

They take two new seats that were brought here without me –or the others for that matter – to notice.

"This digidestined, are Dylan and Kazumi Kamiya", Phoenix introduces them.

"Wow, and you're really Tai and Sora's kids? Does that mean that they marry and everything?" Yolei asks the two of them, being herself again. I already started to worry about her since she was acting weird for two days now...probably because the whole situation was a little bit too much to handle.

While Kazumi's expression remains blank, Dylan cracks a smile and answers her.

"We are, and yeah...they did", he says after glancing at Sora for a moment.

"Oh my god! That's like, the cutest thing ever! What else is there? Are we all married in the future and have kids that look as good as you?" Mimi joins the conversation for the first time, smiling brightly at the twins. Just about when Dylan's to answer Phoenix interrupts him.

"You shouldn't tell them too much... ", he says in a warning voice. The two of them reply his gaze before turning back at Mimi.

"Everyone's content with their life. We're still together", Dylan answers her, giving her a small smile.

"What do you mean by together?" Sora asks the first time directly to her own children, though they aren't really hers... _god that confuses me already._

"Though everyone lives with their own family in the real world, there's still a war going on in our world –a war you couldn't imagine in your worst dreams – so that means it is safest for all digidestined to be together. We're spending most of our time in the digital world, together", Dylan answers, giving Sora a kind smile. Kazumi for her part glares at Phoenix for the most of the time.

Just about when Mimi's about to ask another thing Kazumi speaks up.

"Where's dad?"

"You mean this time's Tai? He's –"Phoenix starts but Kazumi interrupts him immediately.

"I wasn't talking to you."

"He's in his room dear", Gennai answers and much to my surprise he earns the first smile of her. Though her attitude is quite special I can't help but like her in some way. She's got a very strong personality I can tell. _No wonder with these parents..._

"I should –"she starts and gets up immediately but her brother interrupts her by grabbing her arm and pulling her down again.

"You shouldn't", he says, looking her straight into her eyes. I can't help but feel like they're communicating by far more than just words because a few seconds later she nods and leans back in her seat again.

"So when are we going to free him?" she changes the subject as if nothing has happened.

"Yeah, and how are we going to do it anyway?" Ken asks the only thing nobody bothered to think about until now.

"Kazumi did you bring the mirror?" Gennai asks. Said girl however just nods and pulls down a small mirror out of her back pocket. From what I can see from this angle the mirror's glass is broken.

"Digidestined don't worry about the way we're going to free Alec's spirit. Just know that we will", Phoenix says and stands up from his seat. "The meeting's over", he says before exiting the room.

"You heard the oh so great master Phoenix. I mean, hey it is 9pm already... he should be in bed for over an hour already", Kazumi says ironically, rolling her eyes and causing everyone in the room to burst out in laughter, including Gennai.

 _God it feels god to laugh finally..._

"God my head hurts", Yolei says massaging her temples.

"Here", Dylan says, extending his arm and passing her something that looks like an aspirin.

"You don't seem like the guy who carries aspirin with himself", she says taking the pill though.

"It isn't aspirin. We always take that when we don't feel good. Izzy and Ken of our time produced it", he says smiling lightly. His resemblance to Tai is quite frightening, especially when he smiles like that. It's like I'm looking at a copy of my best friend. The same goes for Kazumi, though they really do have a lot of Tai in them there's no doubt that Sora's their mother. They both got most of her facial features, apart from their high cheekbones they obviously inherited from their father.

* * *

 **Sora's Prov**

After spending most of the evening with Kazumi and Dylan I feel like loving them already. I can't wait for them to be born in my time. While Dylan is the type of guy who's absolutely down-to-earth and caring, Kazumi seems rather cold at the first impression. However she proves one otherwise when having a rather long conversation with her. All in all there are a lot features from me as well as from Tai visible in their appearance, as well as their behavior. They both have Tai's humor, but Kazumi for her part obviously got my temper.

The digidestined seem to like them as much as me already, though they'd love to talk longer with them a few of them already went to sleep –including all the digimons – since we've got to get up early tomorrow to get Alec's body out of this sealed crypt.

So that leaves me, Kari, Matt and Davis with the twins in the lounge.

"Can I ask you something about tomorrow?" Kari asks them. Kazumi and Dylan however nod in unison, gesturing her to ask whatever comes to her mind.

"I don't really get why all of this has happened...and why the crypt is sealed for that matter", she says, being the first one who finally dares to ask the question that was in our mind for most of the time already.

"Yeah and why do we need twins to open the crypt?" Matt adds from his spot next to the chimney.

"First of all you have to understand what has happened in 1803", Dylan starts since Kazumi's expression darkened as soon as Kari mentioned this subject. She stares down at the mirror she's clutching for the whole time already and remains silent.

"We've got time", I say, getting comfortable in my seat since I feel like this is going to take a while. Dylan gives me a cute smile that resembles the one Tai wears all the time.

"Alec and Phoenix were the most powerful brothers of all time. They ruled over the whole digital world, they had a bond with Fanglomon who himself ruled over the four sovereigns. So that made the two brothers the ruler over the sovereigns themselves. When the demon lords declared war for the first in 1798 Phoenix was just about 16 years old. Alec, being the loving brother he was preserved him from the war. But he knew that he and his friends –a group like you are now – hadn't had a chance against the demon lords and their army of bastards –"

"So when the Demon lord's army killed everyone Alec ever cared about, including his fiancée, Alec lost his will to live. The only thing he was thinking about was how to end his live in the best way. You have to imagine, everything he knew was burned down and destroyed by the demon lords, his friends he spend his whole life with were dead, the girl he was supposed to marry was killed too...", Kazumi continues for her brother. However after exchanging glances Dylan continues.

"Alec's friends were dead and his army was losing the battle. The demon lords however didn't want Alec to kill himself because they saw him as someone who could change the digital world in their favor. So they changed him...", he says looking first at his sister and then at us.

"What did they do to him?" Matt asks quietly. I can't do anything but stare at the two of them. Kari and Davis for their part look as shocked as me.

"They ruined him with the power of darkness. It was quite similar to what Myotismon tried to do to dad a few months ago in your time. While Myotismon's power wasn't strong enough to change dad's personality and just put him in a comatose state, the demon lord's power was immense. It changed Alec's personality rootedly. He started to kill innocent digimon...he destroyed villages whose leader was rude to him and defied Fanglomon, his oldest friend. Phoenix didn't see any other solution as to kill him and seal his soul in a mirror. His body however was sealed away in the crypt. Why they need twins to open the crypt I can't say, neither does Kazumi", Dylan explains. However they don't give us enough time because Kazumi takes the lead from now on again.

"I found said mirror in mom and dad's stuff and asked mom if I could keep it. Since she didn't recognize the mirror as something important she agreed... but me being me I accidentally dropped it, and freed his spirit out of the mirror. We spend a few months together and... Yeah, "she finished, looking down suddenly and blushing.

 _Oh..._

"That's why you were glaring at Phoenix the whole time", Davis states with a knowing smile. Kazumi however just blushes more and hides her face in her brother's shoulder.

"Yeah... trust me Davis I still can't believe that she actually fell in an immortal, ancient ghost", Dylan says, placing an arm around his sister and pulling her closer.

I can't help but laugh along with them... though it is so weird I can't help but feel really comfortable right now.

* * *

 **Kari's Prov**

The night was awful, not just because I am worried sick about my brother and really confused –but kind of happy – that my niece and nephew of the future are here to help us but also because there were noises throughout the whole night coming from the corridors. I didn't dare to check the corridors though... I still feel not comfortable enough to step out in the middle of the nights.

So here I am, walking next to my friends through the last bit of our little journey. Joey, Tai, Ken, Cody, Mimi and Yolei stayed in the base. Tai for obvious reasons and the rest of them because...they just wanted to be there if Tai would need something. They probably just wanted to be there for him. so here we are; Davis, T.K, Matt, Sora, Izzy, Phoenix and the twins walking through the desert of Server and looking for a crypt where an ancient corpse of a really bad guy is located.

We spend most of the time telling T.K and Izzy about the story the twins told us yesterday, though I feel really bad talking about it while Phoenix is walking next to us I assure myself that...after all, we're the digidestined and we need to know things like that.

Dylan and Kazumi stop suddenly and start to examine the ground. Since I don't really know what they're looking for I just remain silent and wait for them to find what they're searching.

"We should hurry up, the clouds are expanding...as soon as the sunlight is blocked this area will be abound with the demon lord's armies", Phoenix says after glancing at the slowly, but surely darkening sky.

"Found it", Dylan says and pushes down what looks like a circle in the ground. Said ground however immediately falls apart after Dylan pushed the button I wasn't able to recognize before. Where before nothing was but sand is a steep stair that leads down to the ground. The twins don't hesitate and climb it down, followed by the rest of us. It feels like an eternity until we finally reach the bottom, but when we do I feel kind of lost. There's absolutely no light in here.

"Kazumi...could you maybe...?" Phoenix starts his sentence but doesn't finish it because as soon as he stops talking tiny little flames begin to burn in the air. T.K stares at her in awe.

"Did you just do that?" he asks his eyes wider than ever.

She smiles lightly at him. "Dad taught me how to do it." The proud tone she uses whenever talking about her dad didn't get unnoticed by me. Every time she talks about him there's a sparkle appearing in her deep brown eyes.

"There it is", Dylan says, crossing the small room we entered and stopping right in front of a giant that rock that blocks what looks like a passage.

"Okay guys. You just have to cut into your hands and touch the stone. As soon as the rock collapses, Kazumi you have to point with the mirror into the room", Phoenix instructs them, handing each a small knife. I can't help but feel a little uncomfortable about the way they have to unseal this crypt, but I follow the other digidestined's example and remain silent.

Both of them cut into their hands without showing much of emotion or something and I can't help but get the intention that this isn't the first time they're doing something like this. In unison they place their hands on the stone what causes said stone so decay in million tiny lapillus and dust. I resist the urge to cough out my lung and turn away until the dust settles.

The moment I want to turn around however I get blinded by a pure white light.

"What's happening?!" I hear T.K's panicked voice before an ear-piercing high pitched sound dares to deafen me. I close my eyes and cover my ears, crouch down on the ground and wait for this horrible moment to end. The jingle doesn't fade away for what seems like hours.

As sudden the sound and the light appeared it disappears again and I feel myself standing outside again. I slowly open my eyes and reach for some of my friends beside me. Much to my relief I feel Sora's left hand clutching mine, as well as Kazumi's hand clutching my other hand on my other side. I fully open my eyes and feel my heart skip. There in front of us stand what seems like at least a hundred grey figures, glaring angrily at us. I quickly steal a glance at every side of me, checking that everyone is still here. _Thank god no one got hurt..._

I take a look at Kazumi who's staring blankly ahead of us. I follow her gaze and can't help but feel the fear boiling inside of me while staring at their merciless faces.

The sky darkened and is covered by heavy grey clouds... a situation Phoenix feared before.

"Who's that?" Sora whispers next to me, driving my attention to a person whose back is facing us. The guy is broad and doesn't bother to even take a look at us. He wears a long black coat, similar to one of them Tai used to wear in winter a few years ago.

"That's Alec", Kazumi whispers, fear clear written on her face.

"Out of my way", I hear his raspy, deep voice sound. The digimon like creatures however just laugh at him... _I've got a feeling that they made a huge mistake..._

"I said...OUT. OF. MY. WAY!"

Suddenly, the ground beneath the creatures starts to catch fire. They panic immediately and try to escape the flames. Alec however just raises his hands and...god knows how he does that but he does... prevent them to escape. He's literally keeping them in the burning area.

The flames grow and trail their way up their bodies, burning every inch of them. Once again I close my eyes and cover my ears... I really don't have to watch, neither see, this.

The dull noises stop suddenly, causing me to open my eyes again. There in front of this foreign guy is nothing but a great area covered in ash.

"Your. Own. Fault." I hear him say directed at the remains of our enemies. He turns around and gives us one of the brightest, but at the same time most daunting smiles I've ever seen.

"Glad to see you too little brother."

* * *

 **09/13/15**

 **Hope you liked it. Review please. Tell me what you think about my new characters.**

 **Love them? Hate them? Tell me.**


	5. good or bad?

**Tried to be faster with the upload...probably failed. Sorry about that.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own digimon.**

 **But I own Kazumi, Dylan, Phoenix and Alec.**

 **Sorry for the possible grammatic errors.**

* * *

 _ **Good or bad?**_

 _If you want to be bad, be bad with a purpose, otherwise you're not worth forgiving._

 _The soft sheets caress my battered body in a heavenly way. The blanket slipped down to my hip, revealing my naked back. I slowly open my eyes and stare out of the window, looking at the skyscrapers that block my direct view of the sea. The feeling of her soft fingertips tracing down my spine just to trace the same way up again relaxes me completely. It's still early in the morning... probably half past six or something, so there's absolutely no reason to get out of this warm, comfortable bed right now._

 _I lazily turn around, causing her hand to lose contact with my back. However the moment I lay down on my back is when I feel her hand back on my body, this time however she just places her hand on my hip as if it is the most normal thing ever._

 _When I actually think about it... it is._

 _I stare up to her beautiful face; her messy reddish-brown hair falls down on the pillow that's crushed under her left elbow. Her deep brown eyes seem to absorb every inch of my body. Though it isn't a new sight to her, she makes me feel like it's the first time for her, each time she sees me like that. Her usual lopsided grin appears on her face when she realizes that I'd been observing her staring at me. She leans down slowly and brushes her lips provocatively over mine before turning her head and placing a kiss on my collarbone, sending chills all over my body._

" _I love you", she whispers quietly, laying her head on my shoulder._

" _I told you not to"_

" _I know... but I do."_

 _The sun starts blinding me..._

* * *

 **Izzy's Prov**

As long as I can remember I always was the type of guy who didn't believe anything before it was proven in a proper way. I believe in science, and I believe in facts. But from the moment I was sent to the digital world, I had to change my perspective in life. I was forced to believe in things that were impossible to even think about. However I got used to the fact that there were several dimensions in our world... and I also got used to the fact that one of these dimensions is the digital world, where digital monsters live. Some more aggressive than others...

But I surely never, ever was prepared for a situation like this. In all these years I spend being a digidestined... in all these years I fought against diverse evil digimon who tried to not only kill me and the rest of the digidestined, but also innocent people in the real world, I never thought about the possibility of digidestined being able to travel through time just to bring an ancient evil guy back to life. I never thought about evil digimons building up an army and declaring war to teenagers they never faced before. But these things are happening right now; in front of me... _this is so fucked up._

The air is so thick that one actually could cut it with a knife. I never saw someone burn at least a hundred digimon alike creatures like these down within seconds just to stand there afterwards as if nothing has happened. The person who Kazumi said is Alec continues to stare at his own brother, but where once at least a hint of amusement was is nothing but pure anger. I don't know how I'd expected Alec to look like... but I didn't expect him to look so, familiar. Though he's obviously the brother of Phoenix I can't help but draw a parallel between Tai and him. For one thing there are the high cheekbones that both, Tai and Alec seem to have, as well as the defined chin and the contours of their faces... there again there are Alec's icy greyish eyes that show absolutely nothing good in them while Tai's deep brown eyes are always filled with emotions. However I can't continue my observation because before anyone of us can understand what's going on, Alec is already straddling his own brother, pressing said brother down on the ground, his hand around Phoenix's throat.

"Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you here and now!" I feel the icy cold shiver making its way down my spine just by hearing this foreign, cold voice of this new guy. The choking sounds of Phoenix are enough for the rest of us to finally snap out of our shocks and act.

Davis tries to grab Alec by his shoulders but he obviously underestimated Alec's strength because a swift movement of his shoulder is enough to push Davis back, causing him to stumble and fall down on the ground. Judged by the surprised look on the boy's face I can tell that Alec's push was a lot stronger than it looked like. Matt however doesn't seem impressed and steps out to interfere, but Kazumi is faster.

"Alec please! You promised you would try and listen to him!" She clings herself on his right arm and starts to pull on his sleeve. He however doesn't even seem to notice who's talking to him right now.

I have to say... I never saw someone that angry before. Phoenix' face turns into a light reddish shade that starts to worry me. Alec is going to repeat his brother's mistake if he doesn't stop this in the next few minutes.

"Alec it's enough! You'll kill him!" Dylan's voice sounds, not less angry than Alec looks.

"What do you think I intend to do Dylan?" Alec responds, tightening his grip on his brother's throat.

"Alec please!" Kazumi tries again, but he doesn't even bother to take notice of her.

Before she even realizes what's happening Alec already pulled back his fist in an attempt to punch Phoenix. In the progress in doing so however he obviously forgot the girl who was clinging on his arm. His elbow hits Kazumi right on her cheek, causing her to fall down on the ground next to him, looking up in shock.

Her yelping in pain is obviously enough for Alec to snap out of his daze and drive his full attention to the girl he just knocked on the ground. This swift moment of confusion is enough for T.K and Matt to grab Alec on his shoulders and pull him on his feet, handcuffing him. However the thing they use to cuff his hands aren't usually used handcuffs form the police or something... as much as I understood these are used to prevent Alec to use his special power. However what this special power really is, is unknown to me. Said guy however groans in frustration, taking a step in Kazumi's direction. Dylan grabs his shoulder and pulls him away from his sister.

"Don't you dare to come near her!" He shouts angrily, looking ready to punch Alec.

Sora and Kari for their parts don't even bother to follow the argument here; they're both kneeling next to Kazumi, checking on her cheek that looks quite swollen by now. I can tell by her glazy eyes that she's fighting against the tears. Though I'm not sure if because of pain or betrayal... for all I was told there's some deep bound between her and Alec.

"Who the fuck do you think you are! She's my girlfriend!" Alec responds not less angry, causing everyone present to gasp. Everyone but the twins. After taking a glance at Tai's future daughter I can tell that she has had enough for today, her tears are falling down freely on her angelic face. I can't help but follow the desire to kneel next to her and stroke over her back in a –I hope – comforting way. The slight smile she gives me however lets my heart melt. In the short period I got to know this girl I can tell that she doesn't give that much smiles to everyone.

"Don't touch her!" Alec's icy voice cuts the air like a knife; I immediately pull my hand away... T.K and Matt however don't look like they're impressed by his behavior; they just tighten their grips on his shoulder.

"Let's go back to the base before they notice that my brother just killed a part of their army", Phoenix says in an unusual low voice. Everyone nods in agreement.

"Kazumi let me –"Alec starts in a completely new tone. Way softer... and after taking a look at the way he looks at her I can't hide my immense surprise. Every trace of anger or rage is replaced by real concern. Kazumi's expression however changed again. Now she's wearing the same listless expression she wore yesterday. She shots him a glare before walking past him, hitting him far worse than anyone could probably do by doing nothing but saying;" You did enough already. Thanks."

Though I probably should feel kind of amused by the hurt look of him I can't help but feel sorry for him.

* * *

 **Tai's Prov**

The sizzling sound of the fire burning in the chimney is calming down my tense nerves. Though I slept through the whole afternoon I still feel restless. My stomach is burning like hell, same goes for my arm. God knows why but this injury doesn't seem like healing really soon...Taking deep breaths I try to ignore the pain and lazily stare around the room, looking for something out of the ordinary, but since I didn't really spend that much time here I can't tell what's ordinary and what's not. On one side of the bed is a transfusion connected to my arm, containing some sort of clear liquid. Next to the transfusion on the bedside table is a pack of pills with a note next to it that says I should take at least three of them, daily. However Phoenix' signature at the end of the note is the only reason I really do take the pill. On the other side–Sora's side of the bed – lays her note from this morning that tells me what they went to do.

I can tell that whatever they did to get Phoenix brother's spirit out of me, it did work. I feel different... but since the pain of my injuries that were caused by said spirit claims all my senses I can't really enjoy the feeling of having my body for myself again.

Although one of the most annoying things that were going on lately in my life has been solved, there are still a lot more to come. Some more worrying than others... while there's the fact that I will have to face this ghost like guy I came to meet through a mirror there's still the situation the digital world is in right now. _How the hell are we supposed to fight in a war?_

Though we were told that these so-called seven demon lords came back to life –don't ask me how... I'm still trying to figure out how they managed to do that really... after all, it was a well-known fact that they were sealed away a few hundred years ago – declared war, I still didn't come to see any signs of a war here. There are no attacks on this base...neither on villages or something like that. Added to that we have absolutely no idea where to find our enemies... or more important, how to fight them.

 _Maybe this Alec person could help us... after all, he fought against them already._

Without me even realizing it my thoughts wander back to Phoenix' mysterious brother.

Though Phoenix –as well as Gennai and our digimons – affirm that he's the embodiment of evil I can't help but feel sympathy towards him. I know, this sounds really stupid... I mean, he almost killed me, but considering the circumstances he was in, I probably would have done the same. That's why I don't blame him for his actions he did out of pure frustration.

The sound of the door being opened pulls me out of my deep thoughts, causing me to sit up immediately, facing Mimi who just entered my room. She's dressed in simple black jeans and a loose pink shirt, her hair loosely bound in her neck.

I don't really have to pay too much attention on her expression; a quick glance at her blank look she wears is enough for me to understand that something has happened.

"You should come down. They're back."

* * *

 **Matt's Prov**

I can literally feel our digimon's jumpiness just by being in the same room as them. They're glance is directed at the person sitting on the sofa by himself, his hands still cuffed in his lab. The trip back to the base was quick and was spend in absolute silence. Alec refused to even look, let alone talk to any of us. He kept staring at what he claims to be his girlfriend; Kazumi however ignored him for the most part, every now and then glancing at him whenever she thought he wouldn't notice. He did however.

Though I know by now that there's no good in messing with this guy I can't help but wonder just how Kazumi managed to cause him to act like a little puppy around her.

Even now he's still looking at her, begging her for forgiveness though she refuses to look at him.

Sora's holding an ice pack on the girl's cheek that started to turn from green to blue. However judged by her handling the black eye I can tell this is not the first time she got hit like that. By whomsoever. But anyway... it was wrong to even act that aggressive in front of her. He deserves her treatment.

The rest of the digidestined eyes the new guy as suspicious as the digimon do. I for my part am not sure what to think about him. Though there's a faint voice in me telling me that he's not really that bad there's still the fear for the others. He already hurt his own girlfriend –on purpose or not, this is not important – _what if he loses control or something and one of my friends will get battered?_

The longer I spend time sitting in the same room as this person the bigger grows my antipathy towards him.

I shift in my seat and stare at the door, waiting for someone to enter. However I'm not sure myself who I'm waiting for actually...Mimi left a few minutes ago to get Tai since he was still lying in bed. As for Phoenix...he disappeared somewhere as soon as we entered the base, followed by Gennai. God knows what they went to do... but I could tell just by taking a good look at our long-time mentor that he really didn't want to meet Alec, not yet anyway.

After all... there are still a lot of things these two refuse to tell us... and it starts to get on my nerves. _How are we supposed to fight alongside them when they keep hiding important facts from us?_ I mean, it took Tai almost dying until they told us more about Phoenix' brother who not only was trying to come back but also is one of the most powerful beings in the digital world. At least, that's what our digimon told us when we were walking through Server's desert to Alec's crypt.

The door opens with a low crack and reveals Mimi, quickly followed by the one person I was longing to see the whole day already. Tai's dressed in black pants and a matching black hoodie, his arms crossed in front of him. His face is pale and I can tell that he's cold by the way he's keeping his arms as tight on his body as possible. Usually I wouldn't start to worry about someone who's freezing, but it's Tai we're talking about here; the guy who was wandering around in nothing but shorts and a shirt when it was snowing. Everyone immediately turns to look at our leader, much to my surprise even Alec turned to look at him.

Kazumi stands up from her place and stares at Tai with wide eyes, wearing a faint smile on her usually blank face.

"Da –", she starts but gets interrupted by her brother who also stood up.

"Tai", he greets him with a nod who our leader returns with a rather startled expression.

"And you are...?" he asks, his voice hoarser than ever.

"We –", Kazumi starts once again, but this time it's Alec who interrupts her.

"What about you two get him a glass of water?"

The twins turn in confusion to the sound of Alec's voice. He stares at them emotionless but I can't shake off the feeling that they're kind of communicating in this way because after a few seconds the twins nod in unison and excuse themselves. The other digidestined, including me, eye the scenario with similar expressions. Confusion is written all over our faces.

 _Why don't Alec and Dylan want Tai to know about who the twins really are?_

And it almost feels like Alec just read my thoughts because he shots me a glance that tells me something like –at least I think it means that – *don't worry*.

Tai for his part stands there and stares at the door where the twins just disappeared. You don't really have to know Tai that well to get that he's more confused than ever.

Alec shifts in his place, getting my attention again. He however doesn't even bother to look at any of us, not the digidestined nor our digimon. He just slides to one end of the sofa, gesturing for Tai to sit next to him.

"Tai there's a seat next to Joey", Mimi says before sitting down next to Izzy finally. I didn't even notice that she continued to stand next to Tai the whole time until now.

Tai for his part just gives Mimi a small smile before giving Joey an apologizing look that says something like he shouldn't take it too personal, but he's not going to take the seat.

"They handcuffed you?" He asks directed at Alec, causing said guy to chuckle lightly and raise his hands to show him his glowing blue cuffs.

"They did."

Before our leader even has the chance to ask why we did that Izzy already gives him the answer.

"Phoenix's order", he says in a tone I wasn't really prepared to hear from him...he sounds rather angry. Though I don't like the thought of following Phoenix' orders myself I still think that he acts reasonable when deciding that we should cuff his brother. After all we don't know what he's capable of. And I'd rather be too careful than having to handle the consequences of being not careful enough.

"And since when do you follow Phoenix' orders?" Tai asks annoyance clear in his voice. He walks through the room and extends his hand out to us.

"Where's the key?"

All of the sudden the key I was keeping with me to seal Alec's handcuffs feels like a hundred bricks heavier. There's just no way that I'll give Tai the key to open this guy's handcuffs.

"I'm not going to give them to you", I say in the calmest voice possible, causing Tai's eyebrows to shot up in wonder. I clearly understand his reaction... it's been a while I refused to follow his lead. Although the last thing I really want to do is to argue with the most important person in my life –next to my brother of course – I feel like I should finally follow my own instincts again. And this time they tell me that un-cuffing this foreign guy will mean trouble.

"Matt. Give me the key", Tai demands –and I mean **demands** – looking me straight in the eyes with his deep brown eyes. Usually I'd feel calm when I would take a look in these eyes. But not this time, this time there's the old familiar glint of anger towards me visible, causing everything inside of me to crunch. I hate fighting with him; especially after everything we've been through... especially now that our bound is stronger than ever. That's why I hand him the keys. But I can tell that this fight is not over... I'm not going to let it be. I can't.

Tai takes the key without any word and approaches the sitting figure of Alec. From this angle the similarities of the two hit me like a gunshot especially since they both are dressed in black. The way their hair falls in their respective faces is almost the same, as well as the way they eye their surroundings. Within seconds the Cuffs on Alec's arms are opened and fall down on the ground.

"Thanks", he says rubbing his sore wrists. The red marks on them are prove enough that Phoenix hadn't had any intention of letting Alec go by without any pain. I don't even want to imagine these things on my own wrists.

"You're welcome."

Tai takes the seat next to his girlfriend, giving her a light kiss on her left temple before laying his arm around her shoulders.

"Do you really think that this was a good idea?" Yolei asks from her seat next to Ken –one of the seats that are the farthest away from Alec. He for his part doesn't even bother to notice that someone spoke up.

"There was no point in letting him handcuffed the whole time anyway", Cody shrugs, answering the question instead of Tai. Our leader however nods in agreement, though he doesn't seem like even listening to the small conversation between two of the younger digidestined.

His gaze is focused straight forward, aiming at me. I for my part don't back off this time and hold his gaze, wearing one of the iciest glances I've got. I can already feel the all too familiar old anger boiling inside of me.

He doesn't hold our eye contact that long however because he obviously remembered a rather important little detail about the whole situation right now.

"Does anyone feel like telling me who these two were just a minute ago?" he asks everyone in the room. The fact that Sora immediately blushes next to him doesn't get unnoticed by anyone of us. Most importantly not by Alec, because he starts to smirk evilly at her before speaking up.

"I think your girlfriend is the best person to tell you that."

 _How dare he to embarrass Sora in front of everyone?!_

Sora shots him a glare, but he seems for the first time rather amused because he just winks at her playfully, leaning back in his seat.

The rest of us stare at Sora, waiting for her to tell her own boyfriend that these two digidestined are their future kids. As weird as it sounds I can only imagine how it must feel like for Tai hearing such a thing. The redhead however remains silent and refuses to even look Tai in the eyes what causes Davis to finally –as usual – break the silence.

"They are your kids from the future", he says, grabbing a few cookies from the table in front of him. Before he eats one of them however he adds:" And the girl is Alec's girlfriend."

Where before an amused smirk on Alec's face was is now a rather shocked expression. His eyes are wide and all color drained from his face. The gasp that came from the door's direction is prove enough for us that the twins just entered the room again. Kazumi looking as shocked as her said boyfriend. Dylan for his part doesn't show any sign of being bothered by the awkwardness of this whole situation.

The following silence gets almost to the point of unbearable. Neither Kazumi nor Alec dare to even look at Tai. Though I don't really get why they act like this... –I mean, this Kazumi here isn't really our Tai's daughter, so he shouldn't really care about her having a boyfriend should he? – I can't help but follow the example of the digidestined and stare at Tai, waiting for some sort of reaction of our leader.

"Did you just say girlfriend?" he asks in a dangerous low voice.

"Trust me. I reacted the same way when I heard it the first time", Dylan says directed at Tai. That's actually the first time the two are in the same room and I can tell already they'll get along perfectly.

"It's not like that!" Kazumi interrupts them. Unfortunately for her she pissed of Alec by reacting that way. Said guy just jumped up from his seat, eyeing her angrily.

"Really? Now we're on this point again?" he shouts, glaring daggers at her. Kazumi for her part isn't impressed by his angry look –much to the surprise of everyone in here, since our digimon as well as the digidestined themselves look rather nervous right now – she eyes him with an equal glance.

"I'm definitely not going to discuss our problems in front of everyone in here", Kazumi says before placing the glass of water she went to get in front of Tai.

"I'm sorry I gave you such a negative first impression. I assure you I'm not that bad", she says in a tone I didn't get to hear from her. She sounds absolutely devoted...like a little girl who's talking to her father who just god mad at her. Tai's expression mirrors ours, he's stunned.

She excuses herself and exits the room.

Alec for his part makes the attempt to follow her just to be blocked by Dylan.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Save my relationship." With that he exits the room, followed by Dylan after a second.

I have to take a moment to realize that we're finally alone...and when I say alone I mean like, the digidestined with their digimon in one room.

I let out a deep sigh and lean back in my seat, enjoying the silence that followed after everything that has happened today.

"I don't like this..." T.K says quietly, gaining everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" Sora asks, leaning forward to look at him from a better angle.

"These new people we're supposed to trust. No offense Tai and Sora but these digidestined seem quite... ", he starts but ends in middle sentence because he's obviously struggling to find the right word to describe the twins.

"Inscrutable?" Ken tries to help him, getting a nod in response from T.K.

"Yeah... I for my part have no idea what to think about them. Usually you probably should be able to have the slightest hint of a feeling what a person is thinking or something like that... but when it comes down to these two I can't come up with anything."

"I know what you mean... but I don't think that we should worry about them after all they're Tai and Sora's kids from the future. They can't be bad, can they?" Davis asks the obvious.

I have to admit I also thought about the possibility of them being on the wrong side too. After all there's always a chance of a digidestined to turn evil isn't there? And what evidence do we have that they really are on our side?

"I don't get why you worry about the twins when there's obviously a much worse guy present", Yolei speaks out, directing the conversation's subject to Alec, I think.

"You mean Phoenix?" Tai asks, earning a few confused looks from us. _God how can he be so blind?!_

"She means his brother", I answer for her, earning an agreeing nod from Yolei. I can tell by the few looks of some older digidestined that they fear the upcoming argument already. But we have to get through this. The sooner the better.

"Why do you all think of Alec as the bad guy?" Tai asks everyone in the room, clearly avoiding some sort of disagreement with me.

"Why don't you?" Joey asks back, shifting in his seat nervously. "For all we know he could kill us here and now."

"But he didn't", our leader responds placing his elbows on his knees;" and I don't think he would."

Old familiar anger boils inside of me when I hear him saying things like this. He has no idea who this guy is and although not only Phoenix and Gennai but also our digimon don't think of him a good person he still puts everyone at risk by trusting him. So without me even realizing it I'm already standing in the middle of the room.

"How can you be so ignorant?!"

Everyone in the room stares at me in shock, absolutely stunned by my sudden outburst. I can relate to that... I honestly didn't plan to explode like this, but he makes me furious sometimes. Tai himself just stares up at me from his seat, looking really tired all of the sudden. I can't help but feel sorry immediately for shouting at him like that. However his next action causes this feeling of faint guilt to fade away completely.

"I wondered when you would start to doubt me again", he says. Though his tone is hard and cold, his eyes say otherwise...and I learned through the years how to read my best friend properly. While he can manage to sound like a complete asshole, he's never going to be one.

"Of course I doubt you! And everyone else in here is too", I respond, ignoring the nagging voice inside my head that tells me to stop here and now. If Tai doesn't want to understand I have to make him.

* * *

 **Kari's Prov.**

I honestly can't believe my own eyes right now, or my ears for that matter. In the past years I've luckily didn't come to face my brother and Matt's arguments again. I thought they were past this point... I really thought they were done fighting over the same thing over and over again. But it looks like they aren't... and probably never will. It's always the same... the same freaking argument over and over again, it's just getting worse. They get older, the arguments get deeper and each of them ends up more hurt afterwards.

"So? No one of them has to be here. Go on, leave everyone!"

Tai's now at the point where he also stood up. I can't help but feel like I'm living some sort of déjà vu right now. My brother and T.K's brother standing just inches apart from each other, seeming ready to punch one another. After taking a glance at my friends I can tell –at least the older ones – that they're thinking the exact same thing as me. While Sora and Mimi look rather worried right now, Joey, T.K and Izzy look like they're debating whether it would be smart to interfere between these two giants or not.

I for my part don't really know what to think about what Tai just said... after all our adventures he should know that we wouldn't let the digital world down in situations like these.

"Stop fighting... he's not worth it", a voice interrupts their argument, causing not only Tai and Matt but everyone in the room to turn to the source of the voice. Kazumi is leaning against the doorframe, her hair messier than Tai's ever was –I didn't even know that this was possible – wearing white jogging pants and a black shirt that doesn't seem like it belongs to her since it's two times her seize.

She approaches the two and separates them, looking at each for a split second before cracking a small smile.

"I heard a lot about your arguments... but actually seeing one of them is new. And scary", she says, chuckling lightly.

I know it's an attempt to loosen up the tension in the room, but unfortunately she fails in doing so because Matt just keeps glaring at Tai before he leaves the room without any other word. God... this was bad.

"I'm going to check on him", T.K says quietly, following his brother out of the room. Kazumi for her part just looks at the door, seeming deep in thought all of the sudden.

It takes Tai shifting uncomfortably in his position to snap her out of her daze and eye him for a while. No one in the room dares to say something. I wish I could relate to Tai right now... god knows how he must feel to see this girl, knowing that this is his own daughter.

"Can I hug you?" she asks all of the sudden, surprising Tai once again. I can tell by his look that he's not sure if she's serious right now. I shot him a quick glance, saying that he just should do as she asked.

"S-sure", he stutters. That however is enough for the girl to throw her arms around his neck and pull him closer. Primarily being a little taken back Tai takes some time... but he eventually gets used to the new person in his arms and returns her hug. If I wouldn't know it better I'd say that I just heard her sob... but I'm sure I'm just imagining things.

Eventually Kazumi steps back and smiles at us apolitically. "I'm sorry...didn't mean to ignore any of you."

"Don't be", Izzy says quietly, giving her a small smile which she returns immediately. Though I had some negative thoughts against her at first I'm more than happy that I feel the sympathy grow for this girl in front of me... after all, she's my niece. Kind of.

"Did you talk to Alec?" Sora asks from her seat, gesturing Kazumi –as well as Tai – to take a seat again, causing them to sit down on the sofa next to each other.

"I did", she responds quickly. She doesn't really seem like she wants to talk about him right now. Judged by her appearance –the messy hair and the changed clothes – I can tell that they made up...howsoever.

Though there are so many things I'd like to say... and I'm sure that the others feel the same... we all remain silent, even DemiVeemon and Davis don't' look like they really feel like talking right now. We were tense and tired already...and seeing two of our strongest members of the group almost rip their heads off each other gave us the rest. The only thing I really feel like doing right now is going up and sleep. But seeing that we still didn't talk about these demon lords properly I don't think I will see my bed so soon. Added to that we still need to discuss what exactly we're going to do now since we actually should go to school...

Just by remembering all these things that still need to be discussed my head starts to protest by pounding painfully.

"Wow... you look quite worn out guys", Kazumi says after a while, being the first one to break the silence.

"You want me to comment your look?" Davis returns, earning an amused glance from said girl.

"If it wouldn't be so weird for me I'd slap you right now. But seeing that you're some sort of uncle for me in the future I have too much respect to do so", she says, earning several laughter from us, me included.

"Does that mean I get to marry Kari?" he asks, looking quite awake all of the sudden. _Weird... I swear he was falling asleep just a second ago._

Kazumi however bursts out laughing at his comment. In all honestly... I thought for a moment that I really did marry him in the future when she said something about Davis being her uncle...

"No. I said you're some sort of uncle. My aunt married someone else", she says, still chuckling however.

"Can't you tell us?" I ask, feeling the desire to know as much as possible about our future. Kazumi however just shakes her head slowly.

"I'm sorry... it was already quite risky to tell mom and dad who Dylan and I really are."

"Why?" Tai asks, not getting her point obviously.

"Actually that's quite simple Tai", Ken starts:" imagine you and Sora weren't a couple and you'd see two digidestined from the future that claim to be your kids. You would feel pretty awkward and probably never would get together with Sora. That means they wouldn't be born."

Kazumi nods in agreement, confirming Ken's explanation. "It's quite simple really. That's why Alec started to vanish in my time. His body was still buried here...so we had to get his spirit back into his body so he can go on living."

"And you were so in love that you couldn't just watch him leave you... oh my god that's so romantic!" Mimi squeals, smiling brightly at her. Kazumi for her part just blushes intensely and averts her gaze, leaving that statement uncommented.

"Okay, I think it's time for me to go to bed already", she says, getting up and causing everyone else to remember how tired we actually are.

"That's a great idea", Yolei endorses, getting up too.

* * *

 **Tai's Prov**

The digidestined leave one by one the room to go to sleep. I for myself am not that sleepy, though I feel kind of light headed the whole day already I refuse to go to bed again. I slept way too much. Sora's the last one to get up.

"You're not coming?"

"Go to bed... I'll come later", I tell her, sending her to bed on purpose since it really is obvious that she needs the extra sleep. She looks drained. Not really being in the mood in arguing with me about that she just nods tiredly and leaves the room, followed by her pink bird-like digimon. I turn my attention to my little dinosaur who's sitting in front of me on the low table.

"You're not tired bud?" I ask him in an amused tone. He's almost falling asleep here and now but I can tell he won't let me alone...not again.

"Do you really think I would let you alone here? After everything that has happened to you?" he asks me, confirming my thesis. Just when I'm about to go on with the conversation the door cracks open again. I lift my gaze, expecting one of the digidestined to enter the room. But much to my surprise I come face to face with icy-grey eyes.

"Mind if I join you here?" Alec asks me, looking kind of unsure all of the sudden. I just nod and gesture him to sit down on the armchair in front of me. He does as he's told and takes the seat, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes.

He also did change his clothes; instead of the long black coat he's wearing a sleeveless white shirt that reveals his scars on his arm. My curiosity is awakened immediately and I can't avert my gaze from his arm anymore. Some scars look deeper than others; some are more visible while others faded away almost completely. The only commonality all the scars share is that they all run over his whole arm.

"I don't like to be stared at", he says, snapping me out of my daze immediately. I avert my gaze and turn to look at him. Though I was expecting him to look at me –since he caught me staring at his arm – he doesn't even look like he moved an inch. He's still leaning on the back of the chair, his eyes closed.

However he obviously feels my stare because he reopens his eyes and looks straight at me.

"Where did you get those scars?" Agumon asks the one question I was actually debating whether I should ask or not. Alec eyes my partner digimon for a moment with an empty stare before he averts his gaze and looks down on the ground, not moving at all.

I'm just about to apologize to him that my partner asked him such an uncomfortable question when I hear his raspy voice sound once again. "When the war just started... my –"he starts and looks up again, allowing me for the first time to actually see the broken man behind the mask he was wearing all along.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't w –"I start but he raises his hand, signaling me to shut up.

"I'm fine", he says before taking a deep breath and starting once again:" When the war against the demon lords started, my best friend was attacked... you have to know that... the demon lords like to use fire as weapons. My best friend, Zac, went to pick up his son –in the real world if you wonder about that – however the moment he entered the building it caught fire. I managed to get him out in time but he was hysterical, screaming things like his son is still in there. Seeing that he was in no state to go in again I did it, after a while I did find the little boy. I got him out but it was too late... my best friend wasn't the same ever since. And I am doomed to remember this day forever", he says, gesturing to his scarred arm.

I didn't notice it at first but now that I know what has happened I realize that these scars were caused by flames...not by clinks. My heart is beating a whole lot faster and I feel like someone just slapped me across the face. Though I know very well that the rest of my team doesn't really trust Alec and doesn't want him to be around them too long... my sympathy towards this guy is growing constantly. Since I'm too stunned to say something Agumon is once again faster than me.

"I'm so s –"he starts but once again, Alec interrupts him in mid-sentence.

"I don't need any pity. That's over; he died a long time ago. As well as everyone else", he says in such a tone that signals both of us to change the subject from now on.

Although I feel the giant urge to ask him more about these visions he showed me... about all these people who he showed me dying, I shut my mouth. There's no way in hell he will talk about that right now, I can tell.

"Are these your pills?" he asks all of the sudden, gesturing to the pack of pills in my lab. I didn't even notice that they fell out of my jacket. I just nod as a response what causes his expression to get darker immediately. He gets up within seconds and grabs the pills from my lab, examining them carefully. While he does that his expression gets darker by the second. He looks beyond pissed by now.

"Did my brother give them to you?!"

"Yeah he said that's for –"

"Your injury?!" he shouts angrily, clutching the package in his right hand. The cracking of the pack doesn't really impress him. I just nod since I'm too surprised to say something. God I'm so confused right now... and the dizziness from earlier just got worse.

"Do you feel light-headed?" he asks in a much calmer voice after observing me for a few seconds.

I feel Agumon on my side immediately. He's beyond concerned what causes me to pull myself together and taking a deep breath before I answer him.

"I'm fine."

But I can see it in his eyes that he doesn't believe me so I just try to tell him that I don't want to worry my partner. Luckily he gets what I'm trying to say because he changes the subject once again.

"I'm sorry Tai. I've had a really long day... I should go to sleep", he says before leaving the room, taking my pills with him.

"That was weird wasn't it Tai?" Agumon asks me with wide eyes, concern still clear in his eyes.

"It was", I return smiling lightly at my longtime friend. "We should go to bed too."

* * *

 **Kari's Prov**

I'm not sure if the fact that this base is completely shut out from any sunlight or because we're so deep under that I can't get any sleep right now. Gatomon fell asleep within seconds as soon as she laid down on the soft bed. I have to admit... the rooms are really pretty and they did a good job in making them comfortable, but still, it doesn't matter how hard I try...I just can't fall asleep.

So here I am... walking through some long corridor that's illuminated by flying spheres with a flame in it, wearing nothing but short black shorts and a matching tank top.

Without me even realizing it I find myself in the same floor as I think Phoenix' dorm is.

 _Okay... guess it's time to go back now._

I turn around and am just about to walk to the elevator when I bump into something –someone.

"I'm sorry I –"I start and stare up, freezing completely. Alec stares at me with a surprised look. I probably expected him to look quite angry since I bumped into him, but fortunately he looks rather amused.

"Can't sleep?" he asks, his voice unusual soft. I didn't realize it at first but hearing his voice now I hear the soft undercurrent of his deep voice.

Sensing some kind of sympathy towards me I relax immediately and response by giving him a nod.

"Yeah... I know how you feel", he responds quietly, looking down on the ground.

"Can I ask you something?" I just have to ask him why he's acting completely different now. He nods swiftly, causing me to ask the question out loud.

"Why are you suddenly so nice?"

He smiles –the first genuine smile – and reveals a perfect row of teeth. _Wow... he's hot._

"I guess it's because your future you likes me a lot", he answers, winning a smile from me in return.

"Do I really like you or do I just tolerate you because my niece seems to be in love with you?"

This time he laughs –and I mean... really laughs out loud –, his raspy voice almost cracking. Either he smoked for years or he had a really bad illness that caused his voice to become like this. But I kind of like it.

"She loves me", he says, looking me straight into my eyes. Where before nothing but icy arrogance was, is now a hint of sympathy, causing me to like him a little more actually. _Maybe he's not that bad after all..._

I know that she loves him... I saw the way she was looking at him the whole time. Though he hurt her today and made her angry, she never stopped looking at him with love filled eyes. I can tell there's a really strong bound that's deeper than it looks like.

"Kari you should go to sleep. At least, try it. I can assure you times will get worse in the upcoming weeks", he says, his voice serious all of the sudden. I snap out of my little daze and look back at him, holding eye contact. He's sincere I can tell... and he's worried. If his concern applies to me however is unknown to me. He touches my right shoulder lightly before passing me and making his way towards one of the many steal doors.

I don't know why exactly...but I just started to trust this ancient man.

* * *

 **Phoenix's Prov**

Fear... this is the only thing I'm capable of feeling right now. Fear of what more is now to come. For all I know Alec could walk in here and kill me here and now... immortal or not, he finds a way to kill me if he really wants to. I honestly didn't imagine this day to come. I thought I'd never see my brother again, and there he was today... burning down hundreds of enemies –saving us though – and scaring the shit out of me. The sight was just too familiar. I have to admit... I was expecting him to attack the digidestined right then and there. The fact that he didn't however gives me tiny hope that he's changed...at least a little bit. After all his behavior towards the Kamiya twins –especially Kazumi – was quite special. He almost seemed...worried. Worried that she might not stop ignoring him.

Just by thinking about these fiery goddess makes my heart beat faster in my chest. Though we stopped talking a while ago I still can't ignore the pain whenever I think back to what we had. There's no way in hell I am ever going to tell Tai, that not only my evil brother is in love with her but also me. I don't even want to imagine what he'd do to us if he'd knew everything...

God this situation is getting worse by each second...

I lean back in my armchair and close my eyes, allowing myself to relax for the first time in days. I let go of everything... the war, my brother, my ex-girlfriend... and focus on the sizzling sound of the wood burning in the chimney. I love chimneys... I loved fire...

 _The grueling sound of innocents dying echoes trough the dark night. He burned down an apartment building... again. I don't dare to turn to my right side and even look at him... I don't think I could bear to see the callousness in his eyes. Within the past few months his usual loving, warm eyes got as cold as their color shows... he got cold, as ice. Though I know that he has his orders to do all this I can't imagine that the person who gives him orders to kill innocent people –and in the real world especially – can be a good person, at all. But he refuses to tell me anything about them._

 _The screams die away lightly... leaving nothing but the daunting sound of several floors breaking down. I hear my brother chuckling lightly next to me and I turn to look at him in absolute shock. The faint reddish light casts a cloud over my brother's face, bringing out his defined contours and making him look like the devil himself. Suddenly he turns to me, spearing me with these endless, merciless eyes of his._

The loud bang of the door getting thrown open rudely awakens me, causing me to sit up straight in my armchair. I don't even remember falling asleep... –

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND?!"

My brother's voice freezes me up immediately and the all too familiar fear dares to overwhelm me. All of the sudden I feel like a little five year old boy whose brother is angry at him because he appeared in the middle of a warzone...looking for him. I stand up with shaky legs and turn around, facing these all too cold eyes of my older brother.

"A-Alec..." I manage to stutter. Hearing how pathetic I sound I try and pull myself together. Just when I'm about to say something more his voice pierces through the air again.

"Thanks for stating the obvious. There's something we have to talk about", he says, his voice colder and angrier than I can remember I ever heard.

I try my hardest not to show him my incredible fear right now and stand straight. Squaring my shoulders and taking a deep breath I respond in the most confident voice I bring up right now.

"About?"

"Tai's medical treatment." He responds, crossing his arms before his chest. My gaze immediately focuses on the burn scars on his arm. The memory is still vivid in my mind.

"Don't stare", he reminds me of the fact that if there's something my brother hates to death –beside me – then it's when someone stares at his scars. _He has so many..._

"I'm not sure if you remember clearly Alec... but if you hadn't stabbed the poor boy he wouldn't need any medication. He's in pain... and I give him painkillers", I respond, hoping that he'd just accept my response. He really doesn't need to know everything about the pills I'm giving Tai. There's a reason why I'm doing this.

"Painkillers?! YOU'RE DRUGGING HIM!" He shouts, causing me to jerk and all hope I had for him not finding out my real intention fading away.

"I'm not. I try to –", I start again... but my brother's already too angry to care about that.

"HELP HIM?! You're blocking his power! You're totally dulling him! You're such an egoist! What is it? Don't you want to lose your position or something?! God... he's the most powerful digidestined who was ever alive and you – ", he stops suddenly, staring at me with in shock widened eyes. "He doesn't know about his power does he?"

I don't respond. And that is answer enough.

* * *

 **Sora's Prov**

My boyfriend's warm arm wraps itself around my waist, pulling me close to his chest. I immediately relax because of his touch and lean in, inhaling his unique scent.

"I missed you today", he murmurs into my ear. "I missed you too", I respond, taking his hand and planting a kiss into his palm. God I love this man so much.

Feeling the sudden desire to stare at his face I turn in his arms and come face to face with him. His hand slides down and comes to a stop on my lower hip, sending shivers all over my body. I silently thank myself for choosing the silk pajamas.

I stare silently into his deep chocolate brown eyes and prevent my thoughts to go back to the twins we got to meet. It really is obvious that these two kids are ours. I wanted to talk with Tai about them since I first met Dylan and Kazumi; now's the best time.

"It's kind of cute to know that this is forever isn't it?" Tai says, surprising me by beginning that conversation by himself.

"It is", I say, shifting in my position and turning so I'm lying on my back, staring up to the deep red ceiling. Tai mirrors my position though he places his right arm behind his head, supporting him. His left arm however rests between our bodies, looking for my right hand. I chuckle lightly but finally give in and take his hand.

"When do you think we'll have them?" he asks the question I was thinking about the whole day actually.

"I don't know", I let out a deep sigh. I know they're not allowed to tell us... but seeing that Tai and I are a couple already –and have sex constantly – they could make an exception.

"Actually... we could start already", he says.

Before I even realize what he just said he's already hovering above me, his right hand once again on my lower hip. He stares down on the small gap of my shirt and shorts. Fortunately my shirt slipped up, revealing a small part of my belly.

"I really do like silk on you but... I don't think you'd need this", he says chuckling lightly and placing a warm kiss on my neck.

My hands wander over his toned chest, down to his waistband. I slowly start to pull them down when a screeching sound pierces marrow and bone. Tai shots up within milliseconds, looking around the room hectically.

"What's that?" I shout, trying to overtone this sound.

An automatic voice sounds suddenly within the ear-piercing sound.

"This is a code red alarm. Please remain calm and repair to the air raid shelter. This is not a drill. Digidestined are called to get to the command center. We repeat, this is not a drill."

* * *

 **Tai's Prov**

I run down the corridor as fast as I can, pulling my sister and Sora with me. Moments like these are the moments I want to thank my coach for forcing me to run miles until total exhaustion. The rest of the digidestined is running alongside us, holding onto their respective partners. Agumon is clutching on my neck tighter than I remember he ever did before. I quickly look around to check if everyone's present. My gaze meets the one of Matt...But he looks away as soon as our views met. _Ouch... that hurt._

Seeing that the elevators don't work when the alarm is on we take the stairs down to the command center. I didn't even realize how many digimon live in here until now. Hundreds of different digimon walk down the stairs on the other side, going to the air raid shelter obviously. Sadly... they look like that's not the first time they're forced to do this kind of evacuation.

I don't know why the alarm was activated...but seeing that the ear-battering sound of the alarm is still going on and on is prove enough that whatever happened; it means danger.

"Digidestined! Follow us!" Alec's voice suddenly sounds from somewhere. He runs ahead of us quickly followed by Phoenix.

Phoenix passes us and Alec, showing us the right way. Within seconds we reach the right floor and the giant steal door appears on the end of the corridor.

Suddenly I hear a deafening loud crash that sounds like a giant explosion. My instincts take over and I push Sora and Kari in front of me. They however turn around immediately, looking at me in shock.

"Go!" I shout, but they don't move... at all. Being a leader means to make decisions that are needed to be. So I say the only thing I am sure it will work. "That's an order!"

"That applies everyone!" Alec adds, pushing everyone forward. _Thank God._

"Tai I'm ready when you are", Agumon says determined. Though I know that he'd to anything to protect us... I doubt that there's enough space to digivolve.

I turn around to examine the source of that explosion. Though the corridor doesn't look like it broke down, there's a thick cloud of dust.

"TAI!" Alec's voice catches my attention. I turn around immediately and face him. "Where's the blond guy?!"

"Matt?" I whisper, my heart beats painfully against my chest. Suddenly I feel damn cold and stare at the dark corridor. The lights are all off, worsening the ability to see anything. Alec's hand feels hot on my left wrist.

"Tai the floor over us is going to collapse. We have to get out of here!" he shouts. That's when I realize that this base is actually shaking right now. My gaze shots up and I have to admit; Alec's right. There on the ceiling are deep looking cracks, getting bigger within seconds.

"TAI!" Alec shouts again. But I don't hear him. Matt is somewhere down that corridor. Since my mind is still on standby I trust my body and start to run. However as soon as I reach that dust cloud I start to cough. My sight blurs and I lose orientation immediately. _Something's wrong with that dust._

All of the sudden I feel a pair of strong arms wrapping themselves around my torso, lifting me up without a sign of strain. Though I don't know him that long... it really is not that difficult to tell who this is.

"Alec let me go! He needs me!"

But he doesn't even bother to listen. "I'm sorry Tai. But I can't let you die. Not today."

Since my sight is still blurry of that dust I can't make up where he's going, but judged by the hysterical sounds of my friends voices I can tell that we're near the command center. Suddenly I feel Alec's hold on me loosening and a second later I'm sitting on the cold ground. However he stays by my side, holding onto my wrists. Dullness overwhelms me. Pain. I don't even try to listen to all the voices around me. Something deep inside of me feels relieved when my sight catches Kazumi and Dylan. I thought for a moment that they got lost too.

The heavy steel doors start to close.

The last thing I see is the floor breaking down, creating a bigger, thicker dust cloud than before. Not to mention the giant bricks that just fell down onto our floor.

"NO!"

It takes me a minute to realize that I was the one screaming in pain. Pain because my heart just got ripped out of me.

 _Matt..._

* * *

 **Here ends chapter 5. It seems like my chapters are just getting longer and longer.**

 **I hope you don't get used to that length... usually I just write everything that I feel like putting in one chapter. So... maybe the next chapter won't be that long...maybe it will be longer. Who knows.**

 **I'll be gone for a while since I'm not going to be at home. But I'll try and update at the beginning of November. No promises here!**

 **Anyway I hope you like it so far. Tell me what you think in a review.**

 **See you soon.**

 **10/03/15**


	6. Anger

**Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, just my OC's.**

 **As usual, English isn't my first language... so excuse the few possible mistakes.**

 **Anyway this chapter is going to focus mostly on the OCs since I want you to get to know their characters because it is important for later chapters. I hope you like this one.**

 **I promised November... and here it is. Enjoy; I know some of have been waiting for this.**

* * *

 _L_ _ife's so ironical... really, it is. As long as I can remember there always was this one person in particular that meant the whole world to me. Though there are a lot of people I deeply care about; people I love more than anything in life, they're nothing like him. Though I wake up every morning, feeling like shit because I know that this day – as well as the day before, and the day after – contains a war that doesn't seem to come to an end in the foreseeable future, I appreciate the day, because_ _ **he**_ _makes everything better. My father was the first person – in fact, the first anything – I saw in my life. I don't' know if that was such an emotional moment for me that it can be considered as the cause of me being unable to even think straight without him being nearby. Of course, I as well as my sister love both of our parents. And I'm sure my sister would agree with me when I say that we can't put our love towards them into words, because we can't. Our parents are so different from every couple normal people would face in their whole life. While our mother is the most beautiful and of course most caring woman I ever met in my life – and I don't say that because she's my mother but because it's a fact – my father is completely different. I heard a lot about my father starting to be the leader of the digidestined while only being 11 years old. You can imagine I was quite impressed and wanted to be just like him._

 _My sister for her part doesn't even have to try... my mom always says that she got every characteristics of our father. While she's very impulsive and stubborn she's the most selfless person I know. She's a born leader, and I'm more than happy to leave her the position as the leader of our team, though no one really thought about having a female leader before my dad brought up the idea._

 _So our father is a very important person in our life. I can't remember a single time when he missed a soccer match, neither of me nor my sister. He was always there, spent most of his time playing with us or teaching us how to fight – after all, we mustn't forget that we grew up during a war. Wouldn't it have been for our father, we wouldn't have learned how to defend ourselves before we turned 14. But our dad being our dad didn't think about following someone else's orders and just started to train with us by himself. I honestly don't know when I had my first weapon in my hand, but I know that I didn't realize what I was holding when the time came. I didn't know what it was, neither what it was useful for. But being almost an adult now and looking back... I'm really thankful that my father did what he thought was best for us. Because it was._

 _So... how does it feel to have the most important person without whom you wouldn't be the person you've become today being torn away from you by force?_

 _It hurts. God it hurts so much..._

* * *

 _ **Anger**_

 _While seeking revenge, dig two graves – one for yourself._

 _ **Kazumi's Prov**_

A million thoughts dare to overwhelm my already tense mind. Much more questions than I could bear are running through my head, longing to be answered at once. Why, when, who, where and most of all...HOW, did that just happen? Why did we have to run for our lives down into the command center? When did the soldiers notice the attack? Who exactly did it? Where are they? And how on earth did they know where to aim at?! I know that Dylan and I are used to situations like these... god, we grew up during a war for fucks sake. But looking around and seeing the digidestined's shocked, pale white faces is prove enough that they actually didn't experience something like that, ever. Not yet anyways. I try to ignore the weird feeling I get while seeing all these people I use to look up to in my time in such a state. For all I know now Dylan and I are much more experienced than them. So that means we have to cope with a situation we've never faced before.

The shrill sound of the alarm I hear on an almost daily basis back home is still ringing loudly. I scan the room quickly – something I got used to too while being a leader – checking if everyone's here. There are Kari, T.K, Yolei, Cody, Ken, Uncle Davis, Mimi, Joey, Izzy, Phoenix my brother and my mom. Though somewhere in my chaotic mind I register the absence of Uncle Matt and my own boyfriend the absence of my father sends icy cold chills down my spine, quickening my already fast heartbeat even more.

Just when I feel how I begin to freak out I hear loud – very familiar – voices getting nearer. A second later Alec comes in my sight, carrying a more than just hysterical Tai who's coughing violently and fighting against Alec's death grip at the same time. The digidestined act as if on instinct; they immediately gather themselves around their leader who fell down on the floor, looking straight at the steel doors of the command center that close automatically. I can't focus on anything than on the wide shocked and most of all... teared up eyes of my way too young father who's kneeling on the ground, his arms being held by Alec behind his back. Several panicked voices are heard through the still ongoing sound of the alarm. However the sound of the whole upper floor crashing down in front of the door, the door closing right in this moment and my father's scream of pure desperation of not being able to get back are enough to shut everyone down. With the door closing the alarm stops immediately, leaving everyone in here in absolute silence.

I'm met with several questioning glances of the digidestined; however the only glance I return is the one from my mother. Her face is pale white and I can tell by taking a quick glance at her that she's shaking. Though I feel the immense urge to cross the room and embrace her – I mean... that's my mom for fuck's sake – I resist and focus on my dad instead; One of the most important persons in my life. Much to my relief Alec let go of his hands and is contented to just remain by his side and wait for any reaction of him. Tai for his part just keeps staring at the massive steel door with in shock widened eyes. I can tell that he can't really believe what just happened; unfortunately I faced this sight of my father a lot. Though I am aware of the fact that my dad is in a shock right now I don't really know what to do right now... usually it is Joe or Koji for that matter who takes care about people's health. _God I wish my team would be here right now..._

"Where's Matt?" T.K's snaps me – and everyone else for that matter – out of their respective dazes and drives all attention to him. He eyes Alec with fear widened eyes, obviously fighting against the realization that his brother got buried under the whole upper floor. Alec doesn't have to response... his silence speaks volumes. The blonde digidestined however just shakes his head slowly, fighting against the upcoming grief that is clearly starting to grow inside of him.; The same grief that is crushing dad down onto the floor.

"No...No no no no no no no, please tell me that's a sick joke", he mumbles, turning around and walking towards the wall, his hands covering his face. Davis is the quickest to react; he immediately follows him, keeping a distance however.

"T.K", he tries slowly, keeping his voice low in an attempt to calm the other boy down. T.K however doesn't even bother to notice him.

"No...no... That can't happen. Not now... not ever", he keeps mumbling but I can tell by the change of his voice that he's on the edge of tearing up already. Who'd blame him... I'd cry too if I could.

Davis lays a hand on his shoulder, trying to pull the younger digidestined in a comforting hug; "It's alright T.K, we'll find him... I'm sure he's okay. Just calm down now okay? You just have to –"

"Shut up! Shut the fuck up!" Just when he's about to slam his hand into one of the heavy steel walls –and surely break his hand by doing this – Phoenix steps in, gripping his hand forcefully and pulling him away. T.K winces because of Phoenix' strong hold of him.

"You're hurting him!" Mimi shouts, anger clear in her voice. I don't have to be really good at reading people to know that she wanted to show Phoenix her antipathy towards him for a while now.

"He'll hurt himself if he keeps acting like this. T.K I know that you're really confused right now and I am sure the pain inside of you dares to overwhelm you. But you have to calm down right now until we know what exactly is happening. Can you do that?" he says, looking T.K deep in his eyes. Much to my surprise the digidestined calms down and nods, however he can't hold back the tear that managed to escape his ocean blue eyes that match his brother's in such an incredible way.

"Kazumi", my brother's voice interrupts my thoughts. I turn to him to signalize him that he got my attention, he leans in further so no one can eavesdrop our conversation. "Did you try to contact Uncle Matt by your D-Terminal?"

My eyes widen in realization. Oh my god why didn't I came up with this idea by myself. If Uncle Matt in our time didn't vanish it means that this one here is just fine. Well... he has to be.

"Dylan, you're a genius." He gives me one of his rare – at least...they became rare – smiles before turning back to the scenario in front of us. The digidestined are still gathered around their leader who didn't move one bit.

"Tai...it's okay", Izzy tries, kneeling in front of his best friend and trying to get any reaction out of him.

"Let him be, he'll be fine..." Alec says in his usual apathetic voice. I hate when he talks like his... it reminds me of the time when he was that douchebag I got to meet first. Izzy however decides to ignore Alec's comment and continues to talk to Tai.

I focus on my D-Terminal and send a message to my favorite uncle in our time.

 _ **23.57 pm Kazumi: Are you alright?**_

"That's your fault!" My father's voice drives my attention back immediately. He got up from the floor and is facing my boyfriend right now, a type of anger shining in his eyes I honestly never saw before. And I know my father quite well actually...

"My fault? How is it my fault that your pathetic best friend falls behind?!" Alec counters not less angry judged by his voice, but I know my boyfriend enough to know that Tai's scaring the shit out of him. Though everyone is afraid of Alec and sees him as the evil himself... there's one person on this earth he respects and fears most at the same time. And this person is my father, whether in this time or in mine.

Alec could have chosen his words wiser because he just pissed Tai off more. Without anyone even realizing it Tai's already pinning Alec on the wall, ready to punch the living shit out of him. Much to my relief Dylan is the fastest to react this time because within seconds he's by dad's side, grabbing him by his shoulders and pulling him away from my boyfriend. Though Dylan would have been never, ever be able to do the same thing with our dad back home he doesn't seem like he has trouble doing it with this Tai here. _Looks like immortality did change my father in ways I wasn't aware of..._

"He's not worth it Tai!" Dylan says, trying to calm Tai down. Tai however doesn't even bother to listen to his own son for a second. The only thing he obviously cares about is how to rip Alec's head off in the best way.

"Let go of me Dylan I'm serious!"

Though Dylan is stunned for a moment to hear Tai saying his name – something that didn't happen for months now... – he doesn't cave in that easily. He turns Tai around and forces him to look straight into his eyes – a method dad used to do a lot with Dylan when he was that angry.

"Calm down... he's not worth it", he repeats in his calmest voice possible. I didn't even notice it until now but seeing my brother and my dad standing so close to each other the similarities hit me like thunder. They actually look like the same person if there wouldn't be the reddish shade of Dylan's hair. Much to everyone's surprise Tai's breathing normalizes slowly but surely, signalizing my brother to let go of him now.

"He saved your life Tai... I for my part am really thankful", Kari says quietly, her arms crossed before her chest and her sight focused on the ground. I can tell she's really cold right now... actually, seeing that almost every one of them is in their sleeping gear they have to be all cold right now.

"Don't you dare to think that I did it for your sake", Alec says directly at Tai who eyes him with hatred filled eyes still.

"I did it for their sake. They wouldn't be able to bear something like this again", Alec says after glancing at both, me and Dylan.

I feel my blood freeze and shot Alec a glare, signalizing him that he'd better shut up right here and right now. I'm really not in the mood to talk about this right now. For all I know this fuckin hint of him did give at least Izzy or Ken reason to think about me and my brother – or our time for that matter – more than it would be healthy for them.

"I don't fucking care why you did what you did. All I really care about right now is that someone of you opens this damn door so I can go and look for my best friend!" Tai says, glancing at Phoenix and the white soldiers who stand distributed in the room, waiting for some orders of Phoenix.

Sensing that whatever it was that the enemy did is not over yet my mouth is way faster than my mind.

"NO!"

Everyone turns to me immediately. Alec looks at me with a confused look while my own dad glares daggers at me. "I-I don't think that this is a good –"

"I didn't ask you for your opinion", dad interrupts me, piercing my already disrupted heart with his harsh tone. Obviously seeing what his words did to me Sora steps next to me, glaring at her to be husband.

"You shouldn't forget who you're really angry at. If Kazumi thinks that the door shouldn't be opened now then I'm sharing her opinion", she says, stopping because she senses that Tai's about to interrupt her again. However by raising her finger in front of him – a gesture she used to do a lot actually – he closes his mouth again:" we all want to know what's going on with Matt. I mean... look at Gabumon! Don't you think the only thing he's thinking about is to look for his partner now? But we can't risk any more lives right now. So calm down. We need your clear mind; you're the leader after all..."

"And if you break... what else do they have?" Gennai's voice sounds, causing everyone in the room to turn around. I didn't even notice the man being in the room... but when I really think about it. _When does he even leave the command center anyway?_

Tai stares at him with a blank expression, not bothering to even try and bring up any emotion up his face. Though what Gennai said just a second ago Tai looks quite broken to me already. I know kids shouldn't talk like that about their parents, but after all I'm one of the very few persons who can read my father like an open book, whether he likes it or not, I'm one of the persons who knows him best. And I can tell that he's near his breaking point; There's not much more needed for him to lose his mind. Who would blame him... The room is dead silent and I can't do anything but think about the message I've sent just a minute ago... why the hell doesn't he r –

 **BANG**

Though I can tell that this explosion was farther away – so I don't think that they hit the base – the impact of it reaches the command center within seconds. The walls are shaking immensely, cutting of the electric power supply. The screens of the computers turn black immediately, as well as the rest of all electric equipment, leaving us with no light.

"What is happening?!" I hear a frightened girly voice. I guess that was Mimi... or Yolei, not sure.

"Everyone down on the ground and shield your head!" I hear my boyfriend's order going around the room... –

 **BANG**

This one was closer... fuck. It's difficult enough to shield this base under normal circumstances... I honestly don't have any idea how we're supposed to do it without any light now.

"Phoenix!" I shout, though I have no idea where he is right now. I lost my orientation completely though I know this base inside out.

"I'm all ears Kaz", he responds from my left side. Though there's absolutely no light in here and I have no idea where the rest of the digidestined are I turn around and stare at Phoenix, at least... I hope I do.

"How do I activate the emergency supply?!"

"Wow Kazumi you are a genius", I hear Uncle Davis' voice coming from across the room. I can't help but grin lightly. It surely isn't the first time he tells me that.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there is none here yet", Phoenix responds after an embarrassed silence of him. The digidestined's reaction is the same as mine... we sigh in annoyance at the same time.

"And what are we going to do now?" my aunt asks from the direction Davis' voice sounded a minute ago.

"Wait a second", Dylan says, his voice seeming a little distant. Since I know what my brother is up to I try to calm down my breath and focus on our enemies' actions. I shut my eyes tightly and exhale deeply, fading out every other person in here. Within seconds I've got a clear picture in front of my inner mind. There were five bombs... Three of them hit our base, two missed. One of them was aiming at our command center but got diverted – by what?! – And hit the east wing instead. The other one hit the arsenal, but didn't destroy it completely.. _.what about the last one?!_

I try my hardest to stay focused and find out where the third bomb was thrown at, but the image refuses to pop up in my head. _God that's frustrating..._

"Wow Dylan! How did you do that?" Cody's voice snaps me out of my daze. I quickly open my eyes and can't subdue a grin that's forming on my face. There in the room are at least a dozen little flames flying in the air, lighting up the whole command center. Though the light isn't too bright it has a calming effect. The digidestined are all sitting on the ground, staring at the tiny flames my brother managed to release. I steal a look at Alec who's leaning his forehead on the steel door, his eyes closed though.

"Dad taught me how to do that", Dylan's responds, reminding me of the fact that they actually asked him something.

"What do you mean by he taught you to do it?" Ken asks, his curiosity – as usual – getting the best of him.

Seeing that my father is eying my brother with deep interest in his eyes I can tell that Dylan just managed to cause dad to lose his focus on Matt's absence. For now.

"Well... when Kaz and I were kids dad thought it would be useful for us to know things like these. And seeing that we are his kids we've got some power too", though I know my brother quite well he always kind of seems to be able to surprise me still. I never expected him to actually answer Ken's question, but seeing that he's actually doing it I can't do anything but stare at him in awe. _Wow, my brother is starting to open up._

"What power?" Tai asks, not being able to hide his frown. My brother shots me a quick glance that tells something like *why the fuck don't they know already?!* I just shrug and take the lead from here since he's not sure how to react. I always was the one being better in dealing with uncomfortable situations.

"You'll find out soon. The enemies are gone; we can open the doors now." I say, driving everyone's attention to the steel door again.

"How bad is it Kazumi?" Alec asks me, his eyes not meeting mine though.

"It's bad. The whole upper floor is destroyed, some parts of our arsenal too. The east wing should get checked too. However there was a third bomb that hit the base... though I don't know where. And seeing that our whole electronic isn't working right now I'm afraid we can't find it out without looking for the destruction." I state the situation. I can tell the digidestined are all quite surprised and wonder why I know all that, but that would include these powers my brother mentioned before... and I'm definitely not the one who should tell them about this kind of stuff.

"How many deaths Dylan?" Phoenix asks in a low voice. All attention immediately goes to Dylan who's staring at a flame that's dancing right above our dad's head. I don't have to take a better look at my brother to know that he's actually just looking at our father, seeking for his company.

"23."

I try not to look too bothered about it and focus on my D-Terminal that shows me a message from Uncle Matt. FINALLY.

 **Matt** : Are you asking about me or your father?

 **Kazumi** : I'm asking about you.

I respond quickly and am just about to focus on the conversation between the digidestined and my brother. Them asking who didn't survive the attack and him explaining to them that he isn't able to find out their identity. However the vibration of my D-Terminal causes me to do otherwise. My uncle is obviously not that busy at the moment.

 **Matt** : I'm fine. Why?

 **Kazumi** : You got buried under a roof here.

 **Matt** : I did survive that attack. Tell them to look at the end of the corridor under a bookshelf.

Thank. God.

 **Kazumi** : Will do. Any news?

 **Matt** : Don't ask questions I don't want to answer. Now go and do your job. You're on a mission, don't forget that Honey.

I try to ignore the sickness that dares to overwhelm my already labile stomach. On one part we all got a reason to sigh in deep relief; this time Matt is going to survive whatever happened out of this room. For the other part however my father's oldest friend acted worse than usual. That can't mean anything good.

"Alright. Phoenix tell them to open this damn door; I'm not going to keep sitting here without knowing if my best friend is alive or not", my father's voice snaps me out of my daze. I quickly place the D-Terminal back in my pocket and try to focus on the conversation again, ignoring my minds voice that tells me that something has gone really bad in our time...

"Tai I'm sure he's –"Alec starts but gets cut off immediately.

"Don't you dare", Tai says in his most inhumane voice I know. I personally hate when he talks in that tone...at home it means that Dylan and I are in deep shit. I inwardly smile by remembering the last time dad actually told us off.

"Okay I think you all should calm down right now", I speak up, finally having enough of this ridiculous situation. "Phoenix, try and get the electronic system back up again, without electricity there's no way to open this door. And you", I say before turning to my father – much to my surprise getting his full attention at once – :" take a seat... drink some tea, and relax. I'm taking the lead for now...until I can be sure that your decisions are based on a clear mind."

There's probably nothing I hate more than to speak disrespectful towards my father, but he just doesn't give me a choice right now. I know that the only thing he can think about right now is to make sure that his best friend survives the night. I know a few would think I should tell them that Matt is alright... or rather, will be alright... but time travels are complicated; just because our Matt in our time is fine doesn't mean it's sure to say that this one will survive. So telling them about this isn't an option, watching him being mean to my beloved boyfriend isn't alright either, so the best thing for them to do right now is to just sit down and allow themselves to relax.

Much to everyone's surprise Tai just eyes me with a weird look before nodding tiredly and taking a seat on one of the sofa's in the very back of the room. Taking Tai's lead the digidestined don't bother saying anything more and join their leader.

"I don't like this...at all", I hear one of them – judged by their voice it most probably was Joe, whispering to Tai's ear. However I'm not able to hear my father's response, but I wouldn't be surprised if he'd agree with him. I don't blame them... I wouldn't trust these people too if I wouldn't have grown up with them.

I slowly look over the room and check my companion's occupations. Phoenix is sitting under one of the big desks, doing some complicated-looking stuff with a few cables while Dylan lights the place for him. Gennai for his part is leaning over some old looking book I really don't feel like even looking at. So that leaves only my boyfriend. I turn my head to the other side of the room and face his back that's turned to me. He's standing on a small kitchen-island-like desk, staring at the kettle. _God knows how he managed to get a kettle on without electricity._

I slowly cross the room and lean on the opposite side of the little desk, staring at Alec's perfect face. The skin around his chin is tight, proving my assumption of him grinding his teeth. The cold usually numb looking eyes are staring straight at the kettle that's seething already. By taking a closer look at it I notice the flame on the kettle's base, heating up the water inside of it. _Right... I forgot about his powers for a second._ I slowly lower my sight and look at the things laying on the table in front of him. There isn't really that much, a tray with a few tea mugs – probably for the digidestined –, his mobile phone as well as his D-Terminal. However the little vial in Alec's right hand doesn't get unnoticed by me. I don't have to ask what it is... I already know this substance quite well. Alec however doesn't bother to even take a look at me; he carefully opens the vial and pours a little bit in every mug in front of him.

"You're really drugging the digidestined? Are you serious?!" I try to whisper so no one can eavesdrop us. My boyfriend closes the vial again and lets it disappear in his jacket again. After that he takes the kettle and fills the mugs with the steaming water. Filling up the last mug and placing the kettle back on its place he finally lifts his gaze and looks at me, his icy eyes filling with emotion immediately.

"I'm not drugging them... it's just soporific. We have to get them out of our way to clear up this whole mess", he says in his usual calm voice he uses whenever he's talking to me. I for my part can't shake off the bad feeling about this... _I mean, my boyfriend wants to drug not only my parents but also the rest of the digidestined? The people who are fighting for my life for about 19 years already? And I'm not supposed to stop him?_

Obviously sensing my doubts about this he leans closer and whispers in a way too assuring voice:" listen Kaz... these digidestined aren't used to situations like this yet. We have to find Matt and I will have to heal him... and this will be really ugly. They don't have to see any of this, aren't you agreeing?"

He literally pierces me with his grey eyes. Though everything inside of me tells me to stop Alec of giving the digidestined these mugs... I have to admit; he has got a really good point. I saw the procedure of healing digidestined in our time countless of times... not only on the original ones but also on my friends... even on my own brother. If I can tell one thing about this hell of a procedure then that is hurts, like a bitch. I'm sure I won't be able to forget my brother's screams ever again. After all... he won't let anyone touch him after this anymore, anyone but dad.

Without me even noticing it I'm slowly starting to nod, signalizing Alec to take the tray and bring it to the digidestined where he places it in front of them on the table. Since they are way too far away from me to hear their conversation I don't bother to even try and eavesdrop. However they exchange a few words – and when I say *they* I mean mostly T.K and Alec – before Alec turns around again and comes back to me. I watch with an awful guilty feeling in my gut how every one of them takes a mug and empties it within a few minutes. Including my parents.

* * *

 **Dylan's Prov**

In all these years I am on this goddamn world I experienced a lot of shit, a lot of said shit I caused myself. My parents got angry at me way too many times for things I pulled off. But this is probably one of the worst things...

After drinking the tea they received from Alec – of course sharing it with their digimon too – every one of them fell asleep... systematically. Even if I wanted to wake them up... I wouldn't be able to; I know Alec way too well to even think for a second that he made a mistake with the doses. He did shit like that too many times to make any mistakes.

I lean back on the wall on my back and stare aimlessly around the room, trying to ignore my sister and Alec's voices and just focus on the tiny little flames that are still floating around in the air, never dimming for even a second. The clicking sound of Phoenix trying to fix the electricity however disturbs my already numb mind and drives my attention back to him. I gave up a while ago... I know too little to help him this time.

"Phoenix... I think it's time that you –"I start when the lights in the room start to flicker and I hear the sound of the computers starting up again. _Unbelievable... he did it again._

Phoenix gets on his feet again and grins at me, a grin I didn't see for a while now actually.

"As you were saying?"

I try to resist and grin too but fail miserably. The whole room is illuminated by a dim light, creating a rather comfortable atmosphere.

"So. Since we got our electronic back on track we can open this damn door now", Phoenix says and crosses the room immediately, taking a seat on the main computer in this base. After the system identifies him and gives him access to the main security system he deactivates the code red that was activated after being attacked. As soon as he presses the button the heavy steel door cracks and starts to open ever so slowly. However a second after that I start to wish he didn't deactivate the code. Immense broken rocks fall into the room immediately causing Kazumi and Alec who were standing in front of the door patiently to back off a few meters. I jump up and cross the room, standing right next to Kazumi, Phoenix joining her other side. As for Gennai... after taking a quick glance back into the room I spot him on a small armchair right next to the sleeping figures of the digidestined.

"Dylan", Kazumi's horrified voice snaps me back to the situation and drives my attention to the door that opened finally.

The sight however is what worries me most... _how the hell are we supposed to ever get out of here ?!_

* * *

 **Kazumi's Prov**

The corridor is filled with rocks, some bigger, some smaller than others. The only way to even get out of here would be to climb over the rocks, however the question then would be _...is it even possible to get through the corridor by climbing over them?!_

"Well... looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us", Alec states and approaches the door.

"What do you think you're doing?" Dylan asks confusion visible on his usual calm face. Alec however doesn't bother to turn around, let alone answering the question.

"What do you think I am doing? I'm looking for blondie", he says after a while, starting to actually climb the giant pile.

"I don't think that will work... how do you know that there's enough space to walk through?" I say, looking up to Alec who's continuing to climb the pile, almost reaching the point where I'm not able to see him anymore. However hearing my voice he turns around and shots me a look.

"There sure is. You have to remember that the whole upper floor is missing. That makes the corridor two times the size of what it usually is. So come up and help me. All three of you."

With that he turns around again, grabs a bigger rock on the top of the pile and pulls himself up, disappearing from our view. I sigh in deep frustration and take a step closer to the wall-like pile. I slowly stretch out my right arm before grabbing a rock, pulling to check whether it will stand my weight or not. Luckily it doesn't move one bit although I pull as hard as I can. Being satisfied enough with this result I take a deep breath and pull myself up, placing my left foot on some other rock that appears to be strong enough to hold me. Much to my displeasure my brother soon overtakes me, pulling himself up by grabbing any rock without checking if it's loose or not. As soon as he reaches the top he turns around, stretching out his hand for me.

"I don't need your help." I know I'm acting like a real child right now. After all this is my twin brother looking out for me and trying to help me. But I'm too much like my father to let him to pull me up the meter that's left to climb. Dylan absolutely gets that and stretches his arm out for Phoenix instead, pulling him up to him.

I reach out for the last rock on the top and pull myself up. However in doing so the rock gives in and I slip. Just when I'm about to fall I feel a strong hand on my shoulder. Dylan pulls me up without breaking a sweat, looking down at me with an unreadable expression.

"Don't say anything, okay?" I say, pushing me off of the ground and take a look around our surroundings. Phoenix pulls out three flashlights and gives me and Dylan one of them.

Considering the fact that there's absolutely no light in this corridor I'm really thankful that Phoenix was smart enough to think about such a little detail. I wonder how Alec managed to orient himself. I turn on the flashlight in my hand and direct the light beam straight ahead, illuminating the whole corridor. However seeing that we're actually standing about 3 meters over the normal ground I can't help but let my gaze wander over everything visible right now. The rocks lying on the ground extend themselves a few meters in front of us until suddenly a few books appear among them. Something clicks in my mind as soon as I see the books and my head snaps up immediately. I direct the light beam up, looking for one thing in particular. The upper floor looks mostly okay though the ground is missing... obviously. I slowly aim the light ray into the farthest corner, illuminating the remains of the library. There's nothing left on the wall that was once covered with thousands of different books. The only thing remaining is immense black burn marks. _Looks like I found out what the third bomb hit..._

"Alec?" Dylan's voice snaps me out of my daze, bringing me back to our current situation.

"Over here!" Alec's voice sounds from the very back of the long floor. We immediately start to approach him, walking ever so slowly since a few rocks give in lightly when stepping on them. The sound of rock hitting another echoes through the room and confuses me. _What the hell is he doing?!_

We reach a cliff like end and look down on my boyfriend's bent down figure. He doesn't even bother to notice our arrival; he grabs rock after rock and throws them out of his way. It takes me quite some time before realizing what exactly his intention is. There's actually a cracked bookshelf visible between the rocks. Faintly but it is. The sight of the bookshelf hits me immediately and I remember Uncle Matt's text message.

"Please don't tell me he's buried under all that stuff", Dylan whispers quietly next to me, staring down too.

"Don't tell me you can't feel his aura", Phoenix says, placing his flashlight on the edge of a rock and climbing down to his brother's level. Alec for his part just ignores him, looking up to me. Just when I'm about to climb down too he reaches out for me, placing his hand on my ankle.

"Just light this area for us, will you?" He says, using this soft voice of his. Seeing that there's really not much for me to do because these rocks are way too heavy for me to lift, I just nod and kneel down, lighting the area for them.

Dylan climbs down too and helps the two brothers to get all these rocks out of the way. Little by little the bookshelf appears under the heavy rocks, revealing a small hole behind it. I lean further down to examine the hole, holding the flashlight into another direction though so the guys aren't left in the dark. Sensing that something is right under the bookshelf I block out all the sounds the guys are making and focus on the one thing that seems to call me from under this shelf. After a few minutes in staying in this posture I hear a faint whimper that sounds an awfully lot like my beloved Uncle. A sickening feeling starts to grow in my guts.

"Guys", I whisper since I can't manage to strengthen my voice right now. The three of them turn around immediately, eyeing me with confused expressions.

"I think I found him." I say, still staring on the same spot.

Alec is the first one to react; he immediately grabs the flash light Phoenix placed on the edge of a rock and points it down to the spot I was staring at a second ago. I was right; there indeed is a hole under the bookshelf. Much to my relief I catch sight of blond hair.

"Alec", I direct him to the right spot and he kneels down immediately, looking through the shelf's frames. Dylan and Phoenix climb up again, giving Alec more space down there.

"Matt! Can you hear me?" he calls, slewing the flashlight to get a better look at Matt.

"Kazumi come down here", he says before standing up and passing me the flashlight. I climb down to his level and stare at him in confusion. He gestures for me to kneel down and take a look for myself. I do so as I'm told and kneel down, ignoring the hard wooden shelf pressing on my shinbone. I light the hole under the shelf and try not to gasp out of shock when I see my young uncle's face. His lower part of the body is buried down under giant, heavy looking rocks.

 _God really has to love him a lot if his legs aren't crushed into million pieces._

"Matt?" I whisper quietly, aiming the flash of light in his face again, blinding him on purpose.

He stirs for a moment before opening his eyes, looking up to me. I sigh in deep relief and can't help but smile widely at him. _He's alive!_

Alec obviously heard him reacting to my voice, because within seconds he's kneeling next to me again.

"Matt we will get you out of there don't worry", he says, trying to sound as calm as possible. Though Phoenix, Dylan, Alec and I all have really cool incredible powers I can't come up with an idea to get him out of here without risking getting buried ourselves.

"I –", he says but doesn't continue. Alec and I lean in further immediately, trying to hear anything.

"Can you repeat that?" I ask, though I feel the sick feeling growing inside of me. _This is not good..._

After some more minutes of absolute silence – Neither Alec and I nor my brother and Phoenix dare to say something because we're all waiting for the digidestined to repeat what he just said. I can tell that the guys have the same bad suspicion as I do. Finally I hear Matt mumble again and lean in even further.

"I... can't feel –"

"Can't feel what?" Alec asks a hint of panic hearable in his voice.

"My legs."

* * *

 **Sora's Prov**

I slowly open my eyes... that's when I realize where I actually fell asleep. Tai's head is laying on my chest, his right arm draped over me. Although I hate the idea of waking him up right now I can't ignore the ache in my back that was caused by falling asleep in such an uncomfortable position. I carefully push him down on a pillow, placing his arm on his stomach before I stand up and stretch my sore body. Sleeping on a couch isn't really that smart of an idea.

I look around the room and notice with great relief that they obviously managed to get the electricity on again. While the digidestined are still sleeping peacefully there are five figures sitting on the big round table we held our meeting at the first time we were here. Kazumi, Dylan, Phoenix, Gennai and Alec are sitting there, discussing what seems like some really important matter. Not being sure of what to do I just stand here like an idiot, debating whether to disturb their conversation or not.

However it is Dylan who finally lifts his head and notices me. He gives me a small, warm smile and gestures me to come closer. I do as I'm told and approach the small group. They immediately turn to me, eyeing me with unreadable expressions. Kazumi and Dylan however look at me with a welcoming smile.

"Take a seat", Kazumi says, pulling a chair next to her for me to sit on. I take the seat and give her a small smile. "Thank you."

I'm not sure how long I've slept, but seeing that they look quite worn out I can tell that a few hours must have passed already.

"As you were saying Alec?" Gennai takes the lead of the conversation I obviously interrupted. Though I intended to ask them about news of Matt's whereabouts I shut down and focus on their conversation instead. Something tells me I'm going to find it out anyway.

"He has several broken ribs, a broken collarbone and a few contusions here and there. However the thing that worries me most is that he can't feel his legs... that is a bit of a problem", Alec says, tapping on the table with a lighter.

Kazumi obviously notices my shocked face because she lays her left hand on my leg, driving my attention to her. "He'll be fine. You just have to trust us okay?"

Though everything inside of me is screaming out of shock I remain calm and focus on the one thing I can think of right now. Her eyes. Though on first sight it looked like the twins got a mix of mine and Tai's eyes I realize that she actually got deep brown eyes – as her father. As if on call, my heart immediately beats slower and I manage to calm down. I suddenly feel the deep bound my future self must share with this girl and give in to the feeling of trust that starts to grow inside of me.

"What do you mean?" Dylan starts the conversation again.

"His legs are crushed... literally. No wonder he can't feel anything anymore", Alec responds, his expression remaining blank and the sound of his lighter hitting the table echoes through he room. I try not to gasp and just stay silent, for now.

"But you can heal him don't you?" Phoenix asks his older brother. Alec just eyes him for a few long seconds before deciding to not ignore his brother for once.

"I can. But if the injuries don't kill him until then I bet he'll wish he would have died the latest by the time I heal him", Alec responds, his expression hardening even more. He obviously remembers something rather uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?" The question is out before I even realize what I'm doing. Within seconds all eyes are on me and I can't help but feel like some kind of outsider between them. They obviously know each other for quite a while. A few seconds pass and I'm just about to apologize for my question when Dylan speaks out.

"The procedure of being healed is quite..., painful", he says quietly, staring down on the tabletop. I can tell by the way he just said that, that he obviously experienced that himself. He continues however.

"You have to imagine... it's like fire is running through your veins, inflaming every organ, every muscle and every bone inside of your body. You feel like your whole body is on fire...and no ice, water or anything like that can help you in that moment. You just have to lay there and wait..." he says, still staring on the same spot as before.

"But we have no choice. If Alec doesn't heal Matt soon he'll surely die because of his injuries", Gennai says, stating the obvious for everyone.

"The only question is... is Alec able to heal his nerves too? I hate to remind you but the boy is paralyzed", Phoenix says, shocking me once again.

"I am. Thanks for trusting me", Alec says, giving his brother the fakest and on the same time scariest bright smile I've ever seen. Moments like these are the cause for my distrust towards him.

"Okay guys don't get this started again. I'm so sick of you two pretending to hate each other", Kazumi says, annoyance clear in her voice. The two brother turn to her, eyeing her – I don't even dare to say it but... – with the exact same expression. Actually, that's the first time they look so alike to each other.

"We're not preten –"

"Alec you should go. They're waking up", Dylan interrupts him, his gaze straight forward, looking at the digidestined. I turn around to my friends, watching my boyfriend get up first from the couch. _I should have known that he wouldn't keep sleeping that long without me next to him._ I can't help but grin at that realization though.

Alec eyes them nervously before standing up and leaving the room without any words. I shot Kazumi a confused look but she waves me off.

"That's just what he's like. You get used to it", she gives me a reassuring smile before leaning back in her chair, waiting for the digidestined to join us here.

Tai crosses the room, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. I hope imploringly that his anger from yesterday – or before? – has vanished for the most part. But some evil little voice in my mind tells me that it's only going to get worse as soon as he finds out about Matt's well–being. I mean... how are they actually supposed to react when Gennai – or Phoenix for that matter – tells them that Matt is paralyzed? Sure... we got injured countless of times before in the digital world. But never were we attacked with such weapons.

"Would you like some coffee?" Kazumi's voice snaps me out of my thoughts again. She's looking up at Tai from her seat next to me. He eyes her with an expression I never saw him wearing ever before, before he shakes his head slowly.

"No, but thanks", he says, giving her his usual lopsided grin before taking the seat on my left side.

"But I'd love one actually", Davis voice sounds from the other side of the room. He approaches the table, followed by the rest of the team. They all take a seat on the table. While some of them seem like still being half asleep, the others eye Phoenix and Gennai with interest, obviously waiting for them to say something.

"Sorry. We got no coffee here", Kazumi says, earning a chuckle from her twin brother and a groan from Davis.

"But you said –"he starts before Kazumi interrupts him again.

"If Tai would have said yes I'd go after It." this however shuts Davis down. I can't help but join in Dylan's laugh though Kazumi is kind of mean right now I can't help but like her type of humor.

Tai however is fidgeting on his chair next to me. I know he's dying to know about some news of our current situation. There are actually so many unanswered questions like... who did attack exactly? Why now? How did they know where to aim at? How is Matt holding up? And what are we going to do next? While we were able to leave the digital world without having to deal with too much guilt we can't do it now. Not after we found out of what the enemy is capable of. For all we know 23 beings died. Digimon or these white soldiers – I still have no idea how to call them but I got informed that they aren't actually Digimon and not humans... something in between probably –, it doesn't matter. 23 lives were ended by this attack. And we can't ignore that.

Dylan eyes Tai with interest before he leans back in his chair, starting the conversation we were all subconsciously awaiting.

"Matt's alive. We found him", he says.

I can't quite describe the change in the atmosphere right now. Where before most of the digidestined – mostly T.K and Gabumon – were nervous as hell, not to mention really tense, they relax immediately. As if someone just let the air out of some balloon or something. Tai sighs in deep relief next to me, sinking into his seat while doing so.

We remain silent for a few minutes and enjoy the waves of relief washing off the stress we've been into for the last few hours.

"Where is he? Can we –", Mimi starts; reminding me of the fact that she actually shares a much deeper bond with him than most of us. _How could I forget about that?!_

Gennai however has to interrupt her this time:" I'm afraid you can't visit him for now. Luckily the hospital wing wasn't destroyed by the attack so he's there right now. However he was heavily injured –"

"What does that mean?" T.K interrupts him, leaning further to take a better look at our long-time mentor.

Kazumi however is the quickest to answer his question:" He had a lot of broken bones. The heavier your injuries the longer the healing process takes –"

"What healing process?" Yolei asks, stopping Kazumi in mid-sentence. Just about when the brown haired girl is about to answer the new asked question Dylan speaks out again.

"Could you all please stop interrupting us? That is so annoying you can't imagine..." he says, crossing his arms and gesturing his sister to continue.

I can't help but grin _; he has a temper... wonder where that comes from._

Kazumi takes a deep breath before continuing this time:" as I was saying... the heavier the injuries, the longer the healing process takes. Alec is upstairs, working on it", she says, however this time stopping by herself in mid-sentence before turning to Tai who tensed up as soon as Kazumi mentioned Alec's name.

"I know you probably don't want to even hear his name but... he saved your life. I for my part am really thankful for that. And now he's saving your best friend's life... I think it's your time to be thankful now", she says in the toughest voice I've heard of her yet.

Though she seems like someone who has a really strong personality and doesn't give in that quickly, none of these qualities was visible when she was talking to Tai, until now. I can't help but wonder what special bond she shares with him. One thing I can tell... it sure as hell is nothing usual.

Tai for his part eyes her for a really long time in absolute silence. Everyone's gaze is focused on the two of them. No one dares to say something until Tai slowly starts to nod, dropping eye contact.

"Your silence is deafening", a new voice sounds from the door. Everyone turns to Alec standing in the doorway, looking emptier than ever. I immediately expect the worst.

"Is he – ", Kari asks, obviously expecting the same as me. Alec gives her a small smile.

"You can go up now. Worst damage was taken care of."

T.K and Gabumon jump up immediately but Gennai stops them right in their tracks by lifting his hand up, signalizing them to stop.

"We still have some things to discuss", he says firmly, reminding everyone in here that our current situation should not be handled that easily.

"I think we can hold this meeting without them. Go", Alec says directed to T.K and Gabumon who just give him a thankful nod and leave the room immediately. Alec turns to Tai, knowing that Tai too wanted nothing else than to join T.K and Gabumon.

"I'm afraid we'll need the leader of the digidestined to discuss our strategy... I'm sorry", he says, lowering his gaze and taking his in between of Kazumi and Dylan.

"What strategy?" Davis asks, placing his elbows on the table. Looks like he woke up finally..

"After last night's attack you forgot that we're in a war? Really?" Cody asks his older team mate, not believing of hos forgetful Davis actually is.

"No! Of course not... I just didn't realize that –"

"That we have to respond to this attack?" Alec ends Davis's question. Said boy just nods, looking at him strangely.

"I'm afraid we have to...that's the only logical thing during a war", Alec says, earning a huff from his brother. He immediately turns to him, glaring daggers at him.

"Aren't you agreeing with me, little brother?" Alec asks in his probably coldest, most inhumane voice he's got.

"Does that really surprise you?" Phoenix counters not less pissed.

"No... Actually, it does not."

"Shut the fuck up. Both of you!" the twins shout in unison, causing the two brothers and everyone else for that matter to jerk.

"Watch your tone guys", Phoenix warns them. Dylan and Kazumi however don't bother to even notice what he just said.

"You should not forget who these two are Phoenix... imagine what their dad could do to you", Alec says, grinning evilly at his brother.

"I don't think he can do that much considering the fact that he's not even –",

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Within seconds Dylan got his hand around Phoenix's throat, pinning him on the wall. I didn't even have time to realize that he shot up from his seat. Kazumi stares in shock at her brother who obviously just lost his patience.

"Alec, do something!" Gennai shouts frantically though I have trouble to understand why they're panicking that much. However Tai is way faster in reacting than Alec because within seconds he got his arm around his future son's arms, pulling him back from Phoenix. I can't help but think back of yesterday...when it was exactly the other way around.

"Dylan come on, let go; this certainly isn't the time for things like this!" Tai tries to calm the boy down, he however doesn't even think about giving in. He actually reminds me of a wild animal that tries to get free, using all power he has.

"Let me go! I will kill this son of a bitch. Because that's what he is. A fucking –" **SLAP.**

Dylan's hand reaches up to his left cheek where Tai just slapped him, staring up to his "father" in shock.

"But he –", Dylan starts to explain himself. However Tai stops him by lifting his hand.

"I'm sure you had a really good reason to want to beat the living shit out of him. But we've got more important things to do now."

Seeing that no one really is in the right mood to discuss anything right now Gennai tries to loosen up the tense atmosphere.

"I think we postpone that meeting. We'll meet again in the evening. Excuse me I have to check on everyone finally..." he says, ending the meeting with these few words.

"Dylan I'm –"Phoenix starts but this time Kazumi is the one interrupting him.

"That was one mistake too much Phoenix." She says before getting up and leaving the room, followed by her brother.

"What was this about?" Izzy asks, his need to understand everything getting the best of him.

But since no one of us knows the answer we all remain silent, Tai still standing in the middle of the room, not sure of what to do obviously.

Alec or Phoenix for that matter being the only ones who actually could answer the question just stare at each other. Alec doesn't even bother to hide how furious he is right now. Phoenix for his part looks as if guilt is eating him from the inside.

The confusion inside of my mind grows with each minute I spend with these new people. Though there is so much new about this whole situation, the fact that they obviously have lot secrets is making everything worse. I never was a person who wanted to know everything, but this is getting ridiculous. How on earth are we supposed to trust these people if they ignore us half of the time because of their own personal lives? Lives that include our future selves?

"You took a step too far little brother..." Alec says quietly, standing up from his seat as well.

"I know, I'm going to apologize to them", Phoenix says, coughing lightly. Dylan probably has a very hard grip...

"I can't believe you bought Tai up... how could you?!" Alec says.

He doesn't wait for his brother's response however. Instead he just turns and crosses the room

"Where are you going?" Davis asks, causing Alec to turn around again.

"To pick up the pieces."

 _God... I'd do anything for some answers!_

* * *

 **Alec's Prov**

I see their tears too often lately... way too often.

"Stop crying. Both of you, he'll be fine you know that", I try to soothe them. I usually wouldn't care if someone would break down mentally... but these two are the closest thing of a family I've got. And I love them...

"Y-You don't know that", she sobs, hugging her knees tighter. He however continues to press the tissue against his eyes; his pride being too big to let me see him cry.

"You just have to get the cure and bring it back. He'll survive until then." I try once again to calm them down... I know we're in a fucked up situation right now. And I sure as hell know that he could be dead until we got the cure... but I'm not going to accept them giving up right now.

"What if we're too late?" he asks, looking up finally. His deep brown eyes dare to pierce right through the remaining of my heart.

"If that'll be the case we just kill Daemon."

"You know this is impossible", she counters, looking angry all of the sudden.

"They're fighting a war that can't be won. You know that right?" her brother adds, wearing a similar expression now.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that", I say, leaning back in my chair and stare at the twins.

"What do you mean?" They ask in unison.

"Didn't you feel this Tai's aura? I nearly got a heart attack", I say, not being able to hide the small smile of pride when thinking about his strength.

"But he didn't activate his powers yet", Kazumi argues, sitting up straight.

"Yeah... in fact, no one of them has", Dylan adds, once again.

"Then we'll just have to help them a little." I say before changing the subject back to our main aim at the moment.

"But first of all. We need the cure."

"How are we supposed to get it? For all I know these digidestined have no idea how to act during a war. This time's Tai has no idea how to lead an army", Dylan says, crossing his arms and closing up again already.. _. god this kid is so frustrating._

"I didn't had a fucking clue of how to lead an army too when I first did. And guess what? I won." I counter, pretending to not notice the boy's small smile appearing on his face.

"But Alec... the cure is in Daemon's base. One of the seven bases", Kazumi joins the conversation again, catching my whole attention.

"I know... but we have to save your father."

"This is a suicide mission. You know that, right?"

 _Hell yeah... I do._

* * *

 **So. This was chapter 6. How did you like it? Take a minute and tell me what you liked, or disliked for that matter.**

 **I try to upload the next chapter until the end of December... if not then you definitely get chapter 7 in January 2016!**

 **29/11/15**


	7. Impasse

_**Don't really know why it took me so long...well I am very sorry though. This story's still going that I can assure you. I am still writing it, and I surely will finish it! it just takes me longer than I thought it would.**_

 _ **I don't own digimon. I own my OC's!**_

 _ **English is not my first language. Sorry for possible errors.**_

 **This chapter begins a few days after the last one ended!**

* * *

 **IMPASSE**

 **Kazumi's Prov**

The wind carries the sound of the waves breaking on the afar placed cliffs all over the beach. I stare silently ahead at the endless seeming sea, focusing on the feeling of the waves wetting my feet per a few seconds. _The tide is setting in..._

The fresh wind feels like sharp needles piercing my skin. The sand feels cold around me, giving in to my every movement. Closing my eyes I dig my fingers into the sand, blocking out my surroundings and enjoying the sound of the fl – **BEEP BEEP BEEP**

The sound of my D-Terminal rips me out of my trance-like state, throwing me back into reality. I slowly take out the device, expecting –as usual – the worst.

 **DYLAN/00:34AM** : When do you plan to come back? You should not be out alone...

 **KAZUMI/00:35AM** : I'll be back soon.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" I'm so focused on my D-Terminal's screen that I don't hear the rustling sound of the afar bushes that gives away the fact that someone's approaching me. That however is the reason why his voice scares the shit out of me: Tai's standing right next to me, his hands buried in his pants pockets. He's dressed in all black and looks down at me, wearing a rather worried expression, not to mention tired.

"Needed some fresh air", I respond. Though it is not fully true... I really couldn't bear it any longer in there. He nods lightly, averting his gaze.

"Mind if I join you?"

I shake my head "no" and tap the sand next to me. He sits down without any other word and mirrors my posture, staring at the moon that looks like it's floating over the water.

Although I haven't had any possibility to spend some alone time with the younger version of my father, not to mention I'm longing for his company, I remain silent. I don't know why but it feels surprisingly good to just sit next to him on a beach in the middle of the night.

"I can't sleep in there..."

His voice is small... smaller than I'm used to hear. I can't deny that I'm more than surprised by his honesty. I was sure that he doesn't see me as anything else than his daughter from the future, but I didn't expect him to show me one of his vulnerable sides.

"I know what you feel like... I was having nightmares the first few nights I spend in this base in our time", I say still staring at the glistering water in front of us. I know he's looking at me, but I'm not ready to look at him just yet... I can't bear it actually.

"What did you do about it?" he asks, bending his knees and placing his elbows on them.

I can't suppress the grin that's growing on my face when remembering my method of getting rid of these nightmares.

"I spend my evenings with you in the command center. You use to work until late in the night so I usually fall asleep before you decide to call it a night."

This time I turn and hold Tai's gaze. He's looking straight into my eyes, obviously trying to read my mind. However while he's failing to do that –I can tell by his confused gaze – I can read his like an open book. I see the pain that was caused by Matt's accident. I see that he feels lost in this whole situation. I can tell that he has no idea what to do next... and after staring a few more minutes into these endless seeming dark brown eyes that I love so much, I can see his almost non-existent call for help. I'm sure he's not even aware of the things his eyes are giving away right now.

"So you use my company to fight nightmares off?" he breaks the silence again, smiling lightly at me. I can tell he likes this thought.

"I do." I can't help but smile back. "I'm sure Mom's company would have a similar effect... if you'd let her."

I realize that I hit a weak spot by mentioning mom in this conversation. He tensed up immediately. I carefully place my hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"

"Nothing really... we're all just really tense right now. The whole situation messes with our nerves", he says, avoiding the question as well as possible. I'm used to people not wanting to talk about their problems. I know that I should not ask any further so I remain silent and direct my gaze on the sea again. He's following my example after a few more seconds, exhaling deeply.

I know we're in a really messed up situation. After Alec healed Matt's worst injuries the digidestined's life wasn't in real danger any more. However his paralyzed legs seem to be a problem still. Although he should be able to walk... even run, theoretically, he doesn't seem like at least getting on his feet. The images of almost every digidestined included Gennai trying to get Matt on his feet flashes in front of my inner eye. However T.K's devastated face after the second day without any success with his brother's recovery gave me the rest. So I had to get out of there... and I can tell that is one of the main causes for my father's sleepless night.

The vibration of my phone causes both of us to snap out of our own dazes. I answer the call without bothering to check the caller ID.

"Are you alright?" Phoenix's voice sounds through the speaker. I inwardly roll my eyes before answering his question.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you're out there. Alone. Can you imagine what could happen to you?!" I can tell by the sound of his voice that he was worrying about me for a while now. Phoenix usually is not the type of guy who gets angry that fast.

"I'm not alone." Although it's a lame excuse... it's a true one.

"Who's with you?"

"Dad."

I hear him exhale – in deep relief probably – before speaking up again.

"Good. Another problem solved. You should come back. Now."

I hang up after his last word and turn around to Tai who was staring at me the whole time. "Is Phoenix calling us back?" he says, annoyance clear in his voice.

"You don't really like the idea of following his orders do you?" I say, standing up and taping the sand off of my pants.

"Is it that obvious?" he asks, mirroring my example.

"Yes", I laugh before adding some more:" you're the leader... you should start acting like one again though."

He looks at me, obviously debating whether he should tell me something or not. I can tell because Dylan wears exactly the same look as Tai when he's in situations like that.

"Kazumi... between you and me. I have no idea how to act in a war. Sure we had our big fights, but nothing like this", he says, keeping his voice as low as possible.

I expected something like that already:" I know. But you've got Alec on your side he has a lot of exper –"

"You're really telling me that I should trust the person who not only tried to kill me but also held me back when I was trying to help my best friend?" he interrupts me, getting angry at just the mention of my boyfriend's name.

"No. I'm telling you that you should stop denying the bond you feel with him", his eyes go wide immediately after me saying this. He obviously didn't expect me to know about this.

"I am telling you that you should trust the person who saved your best friends life after saving yours. I am telling you to work with this one person I would rely my life on. Tai, Alec is a horrible person... but he's worth trusting...and loving."

"How can you be so sure about him?" he asks, still not fully convinced.

"You will find out why... you just have to let him help you. At least; try."

I can't imagine how confusing this has to be for Tai. I for my part didn't know anything about this bond between them either. But it turns out that there is a lot more that connects Alec and Tai than just their similarities in their looks. Although Alec refused to talk about this too much with me –or anyone for that matter – he told me that not only he himself but also Tai has to feel this between them. So I don't feel guilty for using this information for winning this discussion with Tai.

"Alright", he says, nodding finally. I smile brightly at him before touching his arm in a comforting way.

"Let's go back then."

 **Back at the base**

Every time I enter this place it feels like a ton of bricks are pressing down on my chest, preventing me from breathing normally. I can't really come up with a reason why I feel calmer in the base in our time... probably because I'm working there all day long, but I can't help but feel like there's more to that. _Screw it... I have enough things to worry about already_

I don't bother to check for any of the digidestined. Seeing that it's quite late already I don't think that anyone's still awake. Nevertheless I take the elevator down to the last floor and enter the command center after identifying myself before the door. The metal doors slide open and reveal the round room with its ton computers and maps. The seats on the table are all empty... actually; the whole room is empty except one of the chairs in front of the main computer screen. My first thought is that Izzy got caught up in work or something. However after taking a better look at the person's silhouette I realize that it's Alec sitting on the chair, holding a cup in his left hand while his right one lays on the mouse.

"You're picking up bad habits", I say and take the seat next to him. His usually hard features soften immediately as soon as he turns to me and he gives me one of his rare smiles.

"Why is checking the area a bad habit?" His gaze is once again fixed on the screen that's showing a particular area of the digital world. The area's partly colored in a few different colors. Starting from a light gray and turning slowly in some darker shades. The darker the area is colored the more enemies are located there. I'm so focused on studying the map that I don't notice my boyfriend's burning gaze laying on me all of the sudden.

"What is troubling your mind at this late hour love?"

"Life probably..."

"What are we looking at Alec?" I ask, following his example and looking at the computer screen once more.

"I found the cure's location", he says, emptying his cup and placing it on the desk in front of us. My heart is beating painfully against my chest, making it harder for me to breathe. I knew what I came for into this time, but I didn't expect to find it so soon.

"So that means –", I start, already planning this mission in my mind. However Alec interrupts me.

"Not so fast love." His tone is what ruins my tiny little moment of joy. He taps on some of the keys on the keyboard and within seconds a red dot starts blinking in one of the dark shaded areas. _Wow... that figures._

"What kind of area is that?" _please... don't say d –_

"One of the demon lord's." _THAT FIGURES!_ I hit my head against the back of the chair and groan in frustration.

"What are we going to do now Alec?"

"We can't probably just walk in and declare that we're there to get a cure they don't even know exists..." he says more than to himself than me.

"Yeah. And don't forget that we can't probably go alone...let alone take the digidestined with us." I add, remembering the painful truth that the digidestined from this time have absolutely no idea in what a mess they are right now. And the worst is; this war hasn't even really begun yet.

"I know what you mean. This war will destroy them..."

"If not physically then mentally for sure", I end his thought for him. "Which one of the demon lords is there?"

"Belphemon."

 _Thank god. Some good news._

"He isn't that much of a problem if he's in his sleeping mode. We can take the digidestined with us. They know how to fight", I say, daring to gain a little hope again.

"I'm not going to force the digidestined to do this Kazumi. I'll give them a choice tomorrow. Whoever wants to is free to go." He says, seeming far away all of the sudden...

"And of course... We have to get Matt back on his feet – literally – first."

"I think Dylan should talk to him", I say, looking right at my loving friend who's turning off the computer before locking his account.

"I had this thought too already. After all.. Dylan knows how it feels like to be in this kind of situation", Alec says before getting up from the chair and looking down at me.

"Let's go to bed love."

* * *

 **Next morning.**

 **Dylan's Prov**

"Come on Matt, let's try again." T.K lifts himself up from the couch he was sitting on and stands in front of his brother who's sitting on his bed. After Alec finished the healing process Matt was allowed to leave the hospital wing of this base. Although he'd be able to walk around – as well as jump and run and stuff like that – he doesn't. I know that for the digidestined his behavior must be really weird. I for my part however can relate... no one who didn't experience this already does know how the own body feels after being healed. Though your brain knows that your body's fine, you can't bring yourself to actually get up...it's sheer impossible and takes a damn long time.

"No. I'm done for today", Matt replies, leaning his back against the head of his bed.

"But you didn't even try!" Tai protests from his spot next to me. _Ouch... daddy's getting frustrated._

I take a quick look around the room and realize that most of the digidestined left the room already. The only ones still remaining in this room are Tai, T.K, Kazumi, Mimi and I.

"Come on Matt... Just once", Mimi tries in her usual soft voice. She's sitting next to him on his bed, placing her hand on his left thigh. However he glaring at her causes her to take her hand back immediately.

"Okay. This is getting ridiculous. How much longer do you want us to wait for you to recover?" My sister joins in, not even bothering to cover her annoyance with Matt's behavior. I can't help but feel a little annoyed myself, but not because of Matt.

"What she's trying to say Matt is that, without trying you won't know if you –"T.K tries again but they obviously crossed some line of Matt's nerves or something because he doesn't let his little brother finish his sentence.

"You should get out. I'm tired."

The following silence is surprisingly calming. I can tell by glancing over the digidestined's faces that they're not sure what they're supposed to do now though it's more than clear that Matt doesn't want us in his room.

"Is that what you want?" Tai asks, sitting on the edge of the couch already.

"Yes."

 _Not sure if Matt is avoiding Tai's eye contact on purpose..._

"Are you sure?" T.K asks his eyes wide. I can't help but think of a little kid whose ice cream got stolen or something like that. T.K looks way too vulnerable right now as for me not to think about this image. I'm probably being mean... but at least I'm honest.

Matt doesn't say anything, and that is answer enough.

Kazumi, Tai, T.K and Mimi get up after one another and exit the room. I for my part was expecting Matt to expulse us from his room sooner or later. I lean back on the couch and cross my arms, staring straight at one of my favorite uncles in the future.

"I meant everyone", he says, his tone reminding me of cold ice splintering on a glass table.

"Yeah sorry. But you can't get to me with this tone of yours", I reply, staring at the burgundy carpet on the floor. The color kind of reminds me of my mother's hair. But it's probably weird to think about my mom right now. I feel Matt's glance burning on me, but I refuse to look at him. If I would, I wouldn't be able to do what I'm up to do right now.

"You know Matt...When I was twelve I got seriously hurt in the digital world", I start. I personally promised myself that I would never talk about this with anyone. Kazumi pestering me the whole morning about this convinced me otherwise.

Matt inhales deeply. I take that as a sign to continue.

"Dad told me I should stay by his side and not go too far away. But you can imagine that a little kid doesn't take his dad's instructions that seriously. So when Dad was busy doing some stuff I got bored and wanted to take a look at the surroundings. You know, a battlefield is quite interesting", I stop and take a look at my uncle. He's watching me closely, not leaning on the headboard from the bed anymore. Looks like I caught his attention.

"Well. I didn't see them coming... they were there within a blink of an eye. And I ended up being injured. I had several contusions and cuts and stuff like that. My legs however were the worst; they broke both of them –"

"They?" he interrupts me, narrowing his eyes dangerously. I can see that he doesn't like the thought of me being hurt by someone else at all. I can't deny that it feels quite good actually..

"The enemies."

"And where was Tai? Why didn't he help you?!" Matt's tone changed from worried to angry within seconds.

"He was there. Matt I don't want to talk about this too much. Dad was there; he saved me, got hurt himself and slapped me for being an idiot afterwards. I must say, I deserved that", the memory of dad bending over me, looking at me with fear stricken eyes pops up in my mind. I inwardly shake my head to get rid of that image. I hated seeing my father like this.

"Anyway. I was healed too. And I got into the same situation as you. My legs were perfectly fine, but I couldn't get myself to actually get up from the bed."

"What did you do about it?"

I feel my lips forming a wide grin. This is where the story turns cool.

"Dad took me out with him to check an area, in a wheelchair. Of course I protested to sit on a wheelchair, but since I couldn't walk and my dad is stubborn as fuck I ended up in this situation. However as soon as we were there we got attacked, again. I must add in here that I didn't walk for about 4 weeks then already. So there we were once again. I was absolutely helpless on a wheelchair and my father didn't bother to get us out of there –"

"What do you mean he didn't bother?"

"I'm getting to that. Dad started to run to get himself out of the area –"

"He didn't take you with him?"

"I know it sounds like my dad is a real asshole. But I want you to understand him a little better. He's a genius matt. Dad left. So the only way for me to get out of there was to run. I was a twelve year old boy. I didn't want my legs to be broken once again, let alone die. So I stopped thinking Matt. I ran. I didn't bother looking where I was going. But as soon as I got up and ran a few meters Dad picked me up and got ourselves out of there."

"So he let you think he wouldn't help you this time so that you –"

"So that I overcame my fear."

"And what has that to do with me?" Matt asks, looking straight into my eyes.

"Do you want me to take you to a battlefield or do you want to try to get up in here. With me?" I ask, placing my elbows on my knees.

"Dylan I – "

"I _**know**_ Matt. But you know as well as me that the digidestined won't stop trying to get you on your feet. And if you'd fall in front of them you'd be ashamed. I know you. But I'm almost a stranger to you, and I know how you feel. So I'm the best choice for help right now."

He stares a few more seconds at me, giving me at the same time, the opportunity to take a closer look at him. The bruises on his face disappeared almost completely. Here and there are some scars that won't be gone for a long time I'm sure. Nothing grave however. His upper part of the body is covered by his black shirt but I know that he's got some bandages on because of his ribs.

"Lock the door. Please."

* * *

 **Kari's Prov**

"What now?" Cody asks, staring aimlessly throughout the room. Phoenix looks up from the small screen of his tablet and fixes his gaze on the youngest of us. No one said anything in the past few minutes, though the lobby is almost full. Every digidestined is here except Ken, Yolei and Joe who said they had to check on their families at home. Alec is absent as well, but it isn't really that surprising that I have no idea where he went to.

While most of the digidestined look like they're trying to find any response to Cody's question Phoenix and Kazumi don't look that interested. Kazumi's been studying a heavy looking book for the past hour and Phoenix was doing the same, just with the tablet.

"Didn't someone of you say that we should answer the attack?" Davis says, looking at Kazumi and Phoenix. While Kazumi doesn't bother to look up Phoenix is the one who actually turns off the device in his hand and accepts our attempt to start a conversation with them.

"We thought it would be best to do so... but –"

"But we don't think it would be that smart to do that just yet", Kazumi ends his sentence, closing the book in her lab.

"Why not?" Veemon asks, driving his attention away from the cookies in his hand and to Kazumi instead.

Said girl takes a deep breath and straightens her posture, causing her long wavy hair to fall down loosely on her back. I can't believe how pretty she is, though a little too thin.

"It is out of question that you aren't ready to participate in this war so there is no reason to cause unwanted trouble", she says, her tone a whole lot of degrees colder than it was in the past days. _What happened that pissed her off this much?_

"How can you say something like this? We fought several times before!" Cody protests, getting angry too. I for my part feel kind of insulted myself; _how can she say something like that? We've faced a lot of enemies in the past... just because –_

"Just because we didn't fight in a war yet against these so-called demon lords doesn't mean we can't fight them", Davis speaks out my thoughts.

"Davis you have no idea what you're talking about", Kazumi says, her voice getting thinner by the second and her eyes start to shimmer lightly. All of the sudden she finally looks her age... not this fake version of her that makes her look at least 10 years older, and much colder.

"We can fight... we did it a lot already", Agumon joins in.

"I don't think she means you digimon Agumon", Tai says quietly, staring straight at Kazumi who holds his gaze with the same intensity.

"You're right, I don't."

The realization sinks in by almost everyone at the same time. Suddenly phrases like "you haven't faced something like this before" and "you're not ready for this" get a new meaning. We were thinking that they didn't trust in our ability to defeat these new enemies, but in reality they knew exactly that we can't fight by ourselves, without the digimon.

"Is this the reason why you aren't accompanied with your digimon?" I ask Kazumi as soon as everything gets clear in my mind.

"It is. I am able to look after myself on my own. My digimon is needed in our time", she says, looking sad all of the sudden. _God the expressions of this girl change within seconds._

"So you're saying... **we** have to fight with our bare hands against digimon?" Sora asks her face pale as a sheet.

"No. Not at all", Phoenix joins in again. "We're facing two kinds of enemies: real digimon who turned evil and are loyal lackeys of the demon lords and some other creatures."

"What do you mean?" Izzy asks after closing his laptop finally.

"What he means is that these said creatures aren't human, nor digimon", a voice sounds from the door.

"Matt!"

Within seconds T.K jumped up and is hugging his brother who is actually **standing** in the door frame.

"You got up!" T.K's eyes shine brightly like two blue diamonds. I can't help but feel happy not only for matt that he recovered finally but also for T.K who's suffering has come to an end hopefully. Dylan slips into the room behind Matt and takes a seat next to his twin sister. However the knowing gazes and the smiles they share with each other doesn't get by unnoticed by me. I have a strong feeling that Dylan has something to do with Matt's change of heart.

T.K lets go of his brother and returns to his seat pulling his brother with him.

Matt's gaze wanders through the room and gets a hold of his best friend. Tai didn't say much today, nor did he show any emotion for the last few days. At least... after Matt's accident. They exchange a quick gaze followed by an almost unnoticeable nod of the blonde.

"I can't believe you recovered that fast!" Gabumon says, joining his partner on the sofa. Matt gives him a small smile before his expression turns serious again.

"We have to focus on our further steps in this situation. I don't think it would be very smart if we keep doing nothing", Matt says while looking at the twins and Phoenix. While Dylan just nods approvingly Phoenix and Kazumi exchange a rather worried glance.

"Are you hiding something?" I hear me say before I have the chance to stop myself.

"No. I am just worried about you. I don't want any of you to be hurt", Kazumi says. This time however I am certain that she is not lying.

"We won't", Davis argues.

"Are you sure about that?" Dylan says, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Of course I am!" Davis counters, getting to the point where his annoyance of being unable to do anything gets the best of him.

Dylan eyes him silently before he narrows his eyes. Within seconds a small dagger appears in his left hand. All time he needs to throw the small item at Davis is a blink of an eye. Davis' eyes wide immediately, however the dagger's caught in mid-fly.

Everyone's staring at Tai in awe – and in shock – who's standing in the middle of the room, holding the dagger in his hand and glaring at his son from the future.

"What's the point of that?" I can tell my brother is beyond pissed right now. I for myself can't come up with a reason why I am not angry or at least annoyed myself. I don't know why but I can't get myself to be angry with these two children.

Phoenix eyes Tai with as wide eyes as the rest of the digidestined, except Matt. Matt as well as the twins wear all a similar looking smile on their faces.

"Do you believe me now Matt?" Dylan says, getting up as well while holding eye contact with Tai.

"I do", the blonde replies quietly, looking at the two.

Tai for his part doesn't bother to notice the exchange in words between his best friend and Dylan. He eyes the boy in front of him with the same look as before. I can tell he is seething with anger.

"I asked you a question."

"And I will give you an answer", Dylan replies, smiling lightly. However this smile of his reminds me of the one that appears on Alec's face constantly. The spitefulness of his expression is really not that unobvious.

"Dylan knew you'd catch it", Kazumi replies, getting up herself and pulling her brother back from Tai.

"And you should not provoke him like that, for all I know you'd get a clout off if he'd knew you better, right Tai?" she says, smiling apologetically at him.

"Right." He says before taking his seat again.

"How did you know Tai would catch it? And how did you even do that? I didn't even see this thing getting thrown", Cody speaks up the one question probably everyone wondered about. Even I didn't know that my brother could do something like that and I'm pretty sure neither did Sora.

"Because –"

"You didn't see it getting thrown?"

Tai and Dylan speak up at the same time.

"Did you?" Sora asks her boyfriend in confusion. _What the hell?_

"Of course I did. Why not?" Tai asks, getting more and more confused by the whole situation.

There is just was no way to see the dagger getting thrown, at all. Dylan was way too fast and seeing that he has some weird powers this part of the whole thing doesn't even surprise me. However what really does cause an uncomfortable feeling in my gut is that my brother was obviously the only one of us digidestined who was able to see the dagger flying.

"Well would you look at that", a new voice sounds, catching immediately our attention.

Alec's leaning on the doorframe, his arms crossed before his chest. He's eyeing my brother who's still holding the dagger with interest.

"I wondered when it would start." He says before turning to face Matt, ignoring our questions concerning his more than just simply weird statement.

"Glad to see you out of bed blondie", he says, grinning lightly. "I'd like to talk to you. In the command center. Now."

After saying these simple words he disappears out of the room, leaving us no other option than to follow him.

"I think that was an order", Tai says, rolling his eyes. He gets up though.

* * *

 **Tai's Prov**

I am beyond annoyed right now. Not only do we have to spend our days in this underground base, completely shut off from the sunlight, but we also don't do anything about this whole war situation. However the worst thing is probably to follow someone else's orders. I never was a person who'd liked to do that. _I was the leader... hell, I still am the leader. So why don't they let me live up to my position?!_

Though I don't really like this base so far I can't deny the fact that this room appears to be rather calming. For whatever reason. Everyone except Alec takes their seat on the round table. Alec however is rummaging in some cabinets, looking for something obviously.

"You need any help or... –", Phoenix asks, looking at his older brother who doesn't bother to turn to face him.

"Is it possible that you don't have any bourbon here?" He asks finally, closing the cabinet he was rifling through.

Memories of broken furniture flash in front of my inner eye, making me shiver immediately. After glancing at my girlfriend who's sitting next to me though I can tell I am not the only one who remembered that night by Alec mentioning bourbon. _God I hate whiskey._

"No. there isn't any", Phoenix answers calmly, activating the technology of the table. The tabletop lights up and shows a map of the digital world. _Looks like this is the main menu or something_. Izzy's interest is awakened immediately and he examines it full of expectation.

Alec takes his seat between the twins and huffs in frustration. He runs his finger through his hair, causing it to get messier than mine is usually. The dark bags under his eyes complete his generally leached-out-look.

"Are you nervous or something?" Sora asks him, observing his actions carefully. The way he's fidgeting and rubbing his hands against his knees is kind of disturbing to look at.

"No."

"No Sora. My brother's just an alcoholic on deprivation", Phoenix says irony clear in his voice.

"Here. You're way more obnoxious when you're sober", Dylan says, giving him a silver flask. Alec thanks him and takes the flask, taking a sip immediately.

He obviously feels everyone's gaze on him because he puts it into his pocket. I for my part try to ignore the fact that my son from the future is keeping a flask full of alcohol with himself...

"Yes: I got a drinking problem. But that's not your concern", he says defiant. "However there are some things we have to discuss." He pauses and looks at me, his eyes looking like broken ice. "I'd like to have a word with you afterwards."

Though I feel almost everyone's gaze on me, as well as Sora's hand clutching mine, I just nod and lean back in my seat. However the tense atmosphere is broken when the realization that our days of doing nothing is over hits Davis.

"THANK YOU. Finally we're about to do something", he says, straightening his posture and looking at Phoenix, Alec and the twins expectant. I give him a small smile as a thank you which he answers with an almost unnoticeable nod.

Alec observers Davis for a few seconds with numb eyes before he clicks on some regions on the table what causes one particular spot of the map to be zoomed at. Within seconds a virtual city is floating over the tabletop. _The technology of this base surely is amazing_. However Alec's not done yet. He gets up and pushes a few buttons on the big computer –wall screen what causes the exact same city to appear on the wall. This time however it isn't a hologram like the one we're seeing in front of us, but a 2D map in general. So while we're able to see the buildings in their "original" height in front of us the map on the wall has its focus on the streets.

"What is this?" Joe's voice sounds from the entrance. As if on call everyone turns to look at Ken, Joe and Yolei entering the command center. Their gaze is focused on Alec who's still standing right beside the wall-map. The three newcomers take their seat after greeting us warmly.

"This, Joe is a map of a city we're about to break in", Alec says nonchalantly.

The following silence is pressing me down on my seat. Though I was aware of the fact that we surely had to fight soon I didn't expect them to have a concrete plan already. I probably should say something since I am still the leader of the digidestined, but I don't really feel like it is time to say anything. Moreover I don't think they'd approve anything I'd say right now...

"Why?" Mimi is the first one to break the silence. She looks at the hologram of the city floating in front of us, not showing any emotion on her face though.

"We thought about how we should advance in this war. And we think it would be best if we'd kill each demon lord systematically", Kazumi says, looking at the same spot as Mimi is right now.

"So we start with the one we think is the easiest to hurt", Dylan ends his sister's sentence.

"And who is it?" Izzy asks next.

"His name is Belphemon." Phoenix answers his question.

"As much as I know no one of the demon lords is really easy to kill", Ken says, looking quite nervous actually...

"You're right kid, but Belphemon is in his sleeping mode. This is a good thing", Alec says, confusing me –and I am sure the rest of the digidestined too – even more. _What is that supposed to mean?_

"What is that supposed to mean?" Yolei asks the exact same thing I was wondering about.

"This means it's a lot easier to kill him than when he's awake", Kazumi says, crossing her legs and leaning back in her seat. Her reddish brown hair falls down her right shoulder in waves, giving her generally hard contoured face a soft touch. _She looks way older than she really is..._

"This however doesn't mean that he will not fight against us. He surely will, but we know how to handle him in his sleep-mode", Dylan, once again, ends the sentence for his sister. _Looks like this is some thing of them._

"Sounds good to me. When are we going?" Davis asks excitement clear in his voice.

"Are you ready for this?" Gennai asks, looking at our digimon.

I feel Agumon shifting next to me. This is when something really important hits me. Though I was thinking the whole time as soon as we got into this base I didn't think about our digimon feeling well enough here. I knew I felt like shit here, but what about them?! I turn to look at my partner digimon who is wearing the same determinate expression I am used to see on him.

"We sure are", Gatomon says, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Yeah! We were waiting for this for way too long!" Hawkmon adds, flapping his wings impatiently.

"Are you really ready for this buddy?" I whisper to Agumon so no one's able to hear our conversation. He immediately turns and looks at me with his deep green eyes.

"I know the demon lords are very strong Tai. I think I know much more about them than you", he says but pauses. Probably because my expression gives away how much his statement affects me. Fear is widespread inside of me. "Tai I can do this. Trust me."

Since there is not much I can I just nod. I am not convinced at all, but Agumon unfortunately is as stubborn as me, so there is no way I can talk with him about this anymore when he made up his mind.

"Alright. Here you see the guards", Alec says, pushing a few buttons again. As soon as he does that on the hologram in front of us as well as on the map on the wall appear a lot of red blinking dots. Way too much red blinking dots.

"And traps", Kazumi adds, pushing a few buttons herself. A few black blinking dots appear on the two maps.

 _This doesn't look that good..._

"This city reminds me of the one Kari was trapped when we first met Andromon again", T.K states, looking at the hologram in front of me.

"Yeah I was thinking the same", my sister replies, looking at the floating image in front her: her expression unreadable.

"It is not though", Gennai says, looking at the city thoughtfully.

"This is a city where the sun stopped rising", Kazumi says, her thoughts suddenly seeming far away.

"So the night there is permanently?" T.K asks, holding onto his partner digimon all of the sudden. Patamon eyes him nervously. The blonde however ignores him while eyeing my future daughter.

"Yes."

"Alright. So what's the plan?" I ask since I've finally got enough of talking around the bush. I want to know facts. Clear facts.

"You see the guards there Tai?" Alec says pointing at the red dots. I just nod, waiting for him to continue.

"These aren't really a problem since you're not going to fight them –"

"Didn't you say we'd have to start fighting too?" Matt interrupts him.

"We did. But it would be stupid to send you into war without training you first", Dylan says, looking at the blinking dots in front of us.

"So why don't we train before we go?" Sora asks eagerness clear in her voice. I should have known she'd be ready to fight anytime...

"We don't have time for that. I want to leave tonight already", Alec says, looking at everyone of us.

"YOU WHAT?!" Yolei shrieks, all color drained from her face. Almost everyone is looking at Alec with wide eyes. I for my part feel my heart beat accelerating though I was expecting something like that actually... Guess I hoped inwardly that my team wouldn't have to put themselves in danger so soon.

"We want to do it tonight. We break into this city; observe at first and when the situation looks good we will kill Belphemon. The sooner we start fighting the demon lords the better", Dylan says. Clutching what looks like a digivice in his hand.

A million thoughts are running through my mind. While the worry for every one of my teammates dares to overwhelm me I can't ignore the fact that I myself am sensing fear while thinking about the upcoming mission. I know we have to fight against these demon lords. Dylan's statement was logical and well thought, but on what cost?

 _Who can guarantee that everyone will come back to this base alive? Am I ready to let them put their life in danger? No. I certainly am not._

"Can I have a say in this?" I hear me say before I have the chance to stop myself.

Everyone's gaze immediately focuses on me. While I feel their gaze burning on me, my best friend's gaze feels the heaviest. I can tell by the change in atmosphere that he tensed up as soon as I spoke up. He was probably waiting for me to say something finally. After all... I never was the type of person who just accepted what others told me to do.

"I don't want everyone to put their live in danger. At least... not without any training or something", I say.

Kazumi and Dylan eye me with softened expressions while Phoenix and Gennai don't look that bothered by my statement.

"I think you should let them decide for themselves", Alec says.

"No I don't", Kazumi argues, leaning forward again.

"Yeah... Dad is right. Back home no one is allowed to leave the base without training, why should it be different here?" Dylan says, supporting me too. I give the two of them a small smile which they return immediately.

"Because we're under massive time pressure, you two should know that", Phoenix says, supporting his brother's opinion, for once.

"What about we make groups? One group goes and the rest stays here?" Joe says, trying to come up with a solution, as usual.

"This is a very good idea", Mimi says approvingly.

"Alright. Is there someone who wants to stay behind voluntarily?" Davis asks sarcastically.

Everyone eyes each other carefully. I can tell there surely are some digidestined who actually liked to stay behind, but there is just no way that they will –

"I will", my sister speaks out, staring straight at me as if waiting for my approval. I feel a ton of bricks getting lifted off my chest. Though I was hoping instantly that she would stay behind I never dared for a second to hope she actually would say she'd do it voluntarily.

"What? Why?" Davis asks confused.

"I-I don't know... I just feel like I should not be there..." she says quietly, clasping her hands together. My heart aches when I look at her in this posture. Her legs are crossed and her clasped hands are on top of her knees. The black pants she's wearing and the tight black shirt make her look much thinner than usual. I inwardly hope that this is just the clothes making her look like this and not reality. God she looks so small all of the sudden.

"I am staying too", Joe says quietly, looking at my sister too. I can tell he is thinking something similar as me.

"Same here", Yolei says, as well as Mimi.

 _Good, this means the girls stay behind... almost._

I turn and look at my girlfriend who is glaring daggers at me. "Do not look at me like that Tai there is no way I am staying."

"But –"

"Actually Tai. I think it would be best if Sora would near to you", Alec says, looking at us thoughtfully.

"I am staying too", Izzy says after another long silence.

"Yeah me too", Cody follow Izzy's example. "I don't feel good about this, I am sorry Armadillomon", he apologizes to his digimon.

"Don't worry about it Cody. If you don't feel like it is what we should do I share your opinion", the digimon assures him, causing the boy to smile lightly.

"Anyone else?" Alec asks. No one lifts his hand anymore.

So this leaves T.K, Sora, Matt, Davis Ken and Me.

"Alright.. I am staying here too in case someone attacks the base", Phoenix says, looking at the few digidestined who declared their stay.

"God... I feel like we're letting you down", Mimi says quietly...;" I'm ashamed of myself."

"You shouldn't! You're the back-up team", Dylan says, getting their attention immediately.

"Yeah... when we go for a mission back home half of the team stays behind in case something happens there or if we need back up in battle", Kazumi says, smiling brightly at them. Mimi's expression brightens immediately.

"Alright. So here's the plan", Alec starts before he pauses and looks at the twins who were listening to him carefully.

"I think you should take it from here."

Kazumi and Dylan exchange a few glances between each other before Kazumi speaks up.

"Alright. My idea would be that we'd approach the city with some of the tunnels underground", she says, wiping over the floating city.

The image turns immediately and the buildings are gone, replaced by a desert. Kazumi once again pushes a few buttons on the tabletop and within seconds red tunnels appear under the sand of the desert. The tunnels go from under the desert to the point of a big market square.

"Where is this?" Sora asks.

"This still is the city Sora. This round square is in the heart of the city, you see all tunnels are connected with this point, so it doesn't matter which one we take to get into the city", Kazumi explains, studying the map carefully.

"This is a giant net of tunnels", Izzy states in awe. "This is amazing."

"But there surely are guards and traps...right?" T.K throws in.

Alec once again pushes a few buttons. Black blinking points appear on the map, followed by a few red dots. The red ones however doesn't look like they're underground but more on the market square.

"There aren't any guards on the underground. No one's stupid enough to go through these tunnels... usually", Phoenix says.

"Stupid enough?" Ken asks confused.

"Don't you see all these traps?" Davis says, staring at the dots that are blinking inevitably. It almost feels like they're making fun of us...

"Andromon knows this city; he will accompany us." Alec says.

I actually am not sure if I should be happy about this or not. Sure... it will be very helpful to have someone with us who knows the city well, but Andromon is just one more life that will be in danger. And if he dies, he will have died trying to help us, again.

"You want to say something Tai?" Alec's voice snaps me out of my little daze, causing me to look at him. He observes me with cold looking eyes, driving everyone's attention to me once again. I surely have something to say... but I will not. This time. So I shake my head no and focus on holding Sora's hand in mine, trying not let my emotions take the best of me.

Sora immediately clutches my hand and strokes it with her thumb, signalizing me that she's right next to me. As usual my body reacts immediately and my heart beat slows down, allowing me to take a deep breath.

"Good. This meeting's over", Phoenix says, lifting himself of the seat and yawning lightly. "You should get some rest. The night's going to be awful." With that he exits the command center, his white cape floating behind him with every step he takes.

"If you'll excuse me", Ken says, getting up too and leaving the room.

Soon everyone exits the room, saying that they certainly are tired and they go and get some rest.

"Aren't you coming?" Sora says, getting up too.

"No I'll stay a while. Go ahead I'll come later", I assure her, giving her a quick kiss on her lips. She exits the room too followed by Matt who throws me a worried glance. I just brush him off with a wink and wait for the door to close behind them before I turn back to Alec and the twins. Gennai for his part left a while ago too.

"You wanted a word with me?" I ask Alec straight away. I was wondering about this the whole time.

"Did you see me throwing the dagger?" Dylan asks, pointing at the item that is lying in front of me on the table.

"I did. Why?" I ask him. _Why the hell is that so special?_

"Because Tai, Dylan threw it in high speed. Normal digidestined wouldn't have been able to see this", Kazumi says, confusion clear in her voice.

"What do you mean by ´normal´"?

"They mean digidestined who didn't activate their powers yet", Alec answers my question.

"What powers? You're talking in secrets. PERMANENTELY!" I really have to fight against the anger that is boiling slowly inside of me. It really frustrates me that they refuse to talk clear to us.

"Alright Tai. I'll tell you", Alec says before taking a deep breath.

"Each of you has some special powers. Some greater some weaker. It is absolutely trainable; however you Tai are special, as usual."

 _I am so fed up with being special..._

"Your power is the greatest a digidestined ever got. Your future self is so strong that he'd be able to destroy not only the digital world but also the human world with a snap of his fingers. And your powers seem to boil inside of you already. Don't you feel it?" He says, looking at me intensely.

"How am I supposed to feel that?" I ask, trying to ignore the annoyance.

"Your emotions are stronger than usual. You awareness is sharper... your reaction more precise", Dylan counts.

My silence is obviously answer enough for the three of them because they nod in unison.

"You've got them already. You just have to activate them", Alec says as if it is a normal thing you do on a daily basis.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"It depends. A sovereign would say you should live up to your crest, but I personally don't believe in this thesis", Kazumi says, crossing her arms before her chest.

"How did you activate them?" I ask her.

"She flipped. Bad." Dylan says, judged by his troubled expression the memory of this event isn't all too pleasant.

"You should not worry about this too much Tai. It will come to you naturally, as well as to everyone else. The true reason why I wanted to talk to you is something much more important", Alec says, getting serious all of the sudden.

"What's that?"

Kazumi once again pushes a few buttons on the tabletop. The image changes back to the one where the whole city is visible. While an apartment lights up in a blue light, the red and black dots still blink a new green dot starts blinking in a building where most of the red dots are located as well.

"The blue illuminated apartment is the place we're going to hide after getting into the city. The green dot however is something very important..." Kazumi says, pausing in mid-sentence.

"What is it?"

"It is a vial my sister and I have to get. This is the reason for our time travel Tai", Dylan says, staring at the green blinking dot.

"What's in the vial?" I ask since I still feel like there is much more to this than they're telling me.

"Tai they're not allowed to tell you too much", Alec says quietly, looking at the twins.

"Why not?"

"Your orders", Dylan says while trying to hide his grin behind his fingers.

"How are you going to get this?" I ask them, looking at all the red dots blinking along the green one.

"We will find a way. We will split our group as soon as we get there. Alec, T.K, Ken, Matt and you will stay and observe the situation. You will try and come up with a plan to kill demon lord Nr.1. Sora Dylan and I will go after the vial", Kazumi tells me their plan.

"Didn't Alec say it would be better if Sora would be near to me?" I ask, not liking the idea of my girlfriend being in a warzone while I am not able to protect her.

"Tai we are trained to protect tons of civilians at home from giant armed armies... trust me when I tell you we can look after the younger version of our own mother", Dylan assures me.

"Alright... anything else?" I instantly hope they're done for today. I definitely need some sleep finally.

"No. Go and get some hours of sleep. We're leaving soon", Alec says, dismissing me.

* * *

 **Kazumi's Prov**

My heart is beating painfully against my chest. The heat is unbearable and I know I am sweating under my armor. We clothed the digidestined in similar armors so they'd be at least a little bit covered from anything that could get thrown at them or something like that. Moreover they were armed with several weapons as daggers, knuckle-dusters...and guns. The last one however were just for Matt and Tai, I doubt that the others would be ready to use something like that. Instead of the normal walkie-talkies you see on TV-shows, Dylan and I managed to generate the small ones we use in our time. So the digidestined all wear a descent necklace microphone that not only connects the ones who are on the mission with each other, but also with the rest who is keeping an eye on the maps constantly. So we will be warned in time if anything is going to happen.

The moon is shining beautifully, engulfing the desert in magical silver light. I stare up quietly and enjoy the past few minutes of this beautiful image in front of me. However I hear the click of the tunnel's entrance being opened way too soon. I turn to look at my companions who all look quite nervous at the entrance of it. The tunnel is pitched black, no light to be seen. Exactly what I expected.

I take out my flashlight and press it between my lips before I push myself in front of everyone and take the lead from here on. I slowly climb down the ladder into the tunnel, into the never-ending darkness.

I illuminate the ladder for everyone until Alec gets down at last. No one dares to say something.

"Careful now, if you walk straight ahead you'll face the first trap", I hear Izzy's voice in my ear. After glancing at everyone I can tell that their micro is working just fine. So they heard him.

"Thanks Izzy", Tai whispers back into his micro before turning on his flashlight too.

Soon the tunnel is illuminated by our flashlights. The ground is disgustingly wet and the smell of mold on the walls is killing my nostrils.

"Okay. Come on then... let's do this."

We walk in silence through this shit hole before my brother spots the first trap.

"Stop right here", he says in his usual calm voice.

"How are going to deactivate it?" Davis asks quietly, not daring to raise his voice down here. I don't blame him... god knows what is hiding in this place.

"Don't worry Davis. This whole world is made of technology. So these traps are deactivated with technology", Andromon says, pointing a laser pointer-like device on the activator for the trap. Within seconds the trap starts blinking red before the color changes to green, signalizing that it's deactivated.

"Thank god", I hear my brother say quietly next to me. I for my part allow myself to let the breath out I was holding. I honestly had no idea what we were going to do if this would have failed.

"We should not lose any time", Andromon says before he begins to walk again.

We continue walking in silence and deactivate every trap on our way. To the point I see a greenish light in front of me that is marking the market square I lost ever sense of time.

"Thank god, please tell me this is it", Sora says next to me, looking longingly at the green light in front of us.

"It is", Alec says:" Get your weapons out, just in case", he says, before unsheathing his sword. I immediately take my trident off my back, holding it tightly.

"You think we come to face enemies already?" Sora asks, fear clear in her voice.

"No. but it's better to be careful than sorry", I quote the one sentence her future self tells me almost every time when I leave for battle.

"Is there a reason why you have a trident as a weapon? Some connection with water maybe?" Matt asks, curiosity getting the best of him.

"No... I was a big fan of the little mermaid when I was a little girl. Izzy developed it for me for my 16th birthday", I reply, remembering my joy when I saw one of my favorite persons appear in the doorframe, carrying this cool weapon in his hand. I fell in love with it since the day he gave it to me.

The tunnel suddenly gets wider before ending in a big square. I take in my surroundings and see 9 other tunnel endings. Each one of them looks exactly like the one we just came from. There is no light in none of them. This is just way too creepy.

In the middle of this square is a giant pillar with a ladder attached to it. I follow the ladder with my eyes and spot the exit of this hell-hole.

 _Alright... if we take this exit we will be on the open field. If there aren't any enemies we've got maximum 2 minutes to look for shelter before someone will spot us._

"Izzy... is there anything right above us?" I whisper into my microphone. I am well aware of the fact that everyone's staring at me.

"Wait. Let me check."

"Okay, we will have to –", I start but Alec interrupts me.

"Be quiet love. I think I heard something."

My blood freezes inside my veins and I can literally see the color draining from the digidestined's faces. I feel my brother next to me grabbing his javelin, looking into the same direction as Alec.

"Guys... get behind me. Please", I hear me say. Though everything inside of me is screaming out of panic I pull myself together and try to listen to anything that could be in the tunnels.

"Guys. Can you hear me?" Phoenix voice sounds inside of our micros.

"We can, brother", Alec replies, still looking at the tunnel he thought he heard something coming from.

"I have some bad news..."

"Spit it Phoenix. I am not in the mood", Alec says dangerously quiet.

"There are several guards right above you. If you would exit the tunnels now you'd be dead within seconds", he says.

 _There is more..._

"There is more to that isn't it?" Tai asks quietly.

"Yeah... the water supply of the city gave in this means that –"

"That the underground is being over flood", Dylan ends the sentence blankly. As soon as the words are out however the water appears in the flash beam of our flashlights. I quickly turn around and illuminate every entrance of the tunnels just to come to the realization that there is water coming from every one of them.

"What now?" Ken asks, horror clear on his and everyone else's face.

"We can't get out... and we can't stay in here."

"We'll die here." Davis says blankly. And turns off his flashlight.

* * *

 **So. This was chapter 7. FINALLY!**

 **Please leave a review and tell me what you think. I hope there still are a few who were waiting for this. As you probably already noticed...action's about to start!**

 **I'll try to upload as soon as I can! But school is keeping me very busy at the moment. sorry!**

 **03/14/16**


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